WEDNESDAY'S SCORES
@East Tennessee State 75,
Morehead State 72
@Austin Peay 112, Westminster (Mo.) 61
@Murray State 101, Brescia 75
EAST TENNESSEE STATE 75, MOREHEAD STATE 72
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. - Morehead State scored 51 second half points, but it wasn't enough to overcome an 18-point halftime deficit, as they fell at East Tennessee State, 75-72.
With the defeat, the Eagles have lost five of their last six games and their record moves to 6-6. ETSU also stands at 6-6.
Morehead State opened the game with a 9-4 run, shooting 4-of-6 early on. But, for the final 16 minutes of the first half, they managed to shoot just 4-of-22 from the floor, and ETSU opened a 39-21 lead at halftime.
The Eagles shot just 29 percent in the first half, while the Bucs shot 58 percent.
The second half began with MSU fighting to get back into the game as they mounted a 9-0 run to trim the lead to 42-30. Senior forward Anthony Elechi was the catalyst of the run as he scored seven of the Eagles' first 11 points.
But, ETSU answered with a 9-2 run of their own to extend the lead back to 51-32 and their largest lead of the second half was 22 points at 56-34 with 12:58 remaining.
With five minutes remaining, the Eagles' deficit was still 16, but they mounted an 8-0 run to trim the lead to 64-56 with 4:13 to go, led by junior guard Xavier Moon's quick six points.
ETSU then extended the lead back to 11 at 69-58 with a minute to go,
Still the Eagles would not quit as they trimmed the lead back to four at 72-68 with 17 seconds remaining on Moon's third three-pointer of the game. ETSU then took ten seconds off of the clock while MSU attempted to foul and eventually made two free throws to move the lead to six with seven seconds to go.
Junior guard Corban Collins then hit a three at the buzzer to trim the final deficit to 75-72.
Leading the way for MSU was Moon as he scored a career-high 20 points, hitting 3-of-5 from three point territory and 7-of-12 from the floor.
Junior forward DeJuan Marrero recorded his third double-double in four games, finishing with 12 points and 10 rebounds, five on the offensive end. Elechi scored in double digits for the third straight game, recording a season-high 15 points, while pulling down six boards.
ETSU was led by junior guard T.J. Cromer, who scored a game-high 25 points, shooting 10-of-12 from the line and 50 percent from the floor.
The Bucs outscored the Eagles, 26-10, from the free throw line, knocking down 26-of-36. MSU shot 10-of-19 from the stripe.
After shooting 29 percent in the first half and managing just 21 points, the Eagles shot 55 percent and scored 51 points in the second half. ETSU shot 59 percent in the first half and 35 percent in the second.
AUSTIN PEAY 112, WESTMINSTER 61
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Austin Peay State University placed a school-record seven players in double figures as the Governors closed out 2015 with a 112-61 win against Westminster, Wednesday night, in non-conference men’s basketball action at Dave Aaron Arena.
The victory allowed the Govs to enter the 2016 portion of their schedule with a 7-8 record.
It was the first time since Nov. 18, 2010 the Govs placed at least six players in twin figures. Chris Horton led the Govs with 18 points while fellow senior Khalil Davis added 17. The Govs established an APSU Dunn Center record with 31 assists on the night, breaking the mark of 28 set against Eastern Kentucky, Feb. 7, 1977. Western Kentucky (Jan. 19, 1980) and Southeast Missouri (Feb. 28, 2013) also had 31 assists as opponents.
Westminster, meanwhile, slipped to 3-5 overall. This was the second of back-to-back games for the Blue Jays, a Division III program located in Fulton, Mo. And they were no match for the Governors, who led 42-11 with 7:12 left in the opening half. Eight Governors scored in the first half, led by freshman Jared Savage’s 11 points—he had a trio of three pointers. Chris Horton scored 10 first-half points while dishing out five assists.
APSU shot 64.1 percent (25 of 39) in the first half and 59.2 percent (45 of 76) for the game. In the second half, the Govs starters played to the second media timeout, turning it over to substitutes. Redshirt freshman Chris Porter-Bunton, who scrapped his way for six first-half points, finished the contest with 14 points and 10 rebounds—his first career double-double—while also handing three assists.
Junior guard John Murry scored nine second-half points to finish with 13, the same total as Josh Robinson. Kenny Jones added 10 points to round out the double-digit scorers.
APSU out-rebounded the much-smaller Blue Jays, 51-30, and had just five turnovers after committing 18 Monday against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
MURRAY STATE 101, BRESCIA 75
MURRAY, Ky. - Murray State Racers played the final game of 2015 and turned in a 101-75 victory over the visiting Brescia Bearcats at the CFSB Center in Murray, Ky.
The game marked the second time this season that MSU (6-7) surpassed the 100-point mark.
The MSU win that saw the Racers hit 38-of-46 from the free throw line for an 83 percent clip. The Racers hit 14 in a row from the line to end the half with a 44-36 lead.
The second have opened to a 14-7 run that pushed MSU’s lead to 63-45 with 12:46 remaining. Bryce Jones made a 3-point play after hitting a 3-point basket to key the run. The MSU lead ballooned to the final score of 101-75 on a pair of 3-point baskets by Chad Culbreath.
Jones led five Racers in double-figure scoring with 20 points as he was 8-of-8 from the free throw line.
Gee McGhee grabbed 12 rebounds and had a double-double with 14 points, while Culbreath netted 16 points on 3-of-4 shooting from long range. Wayne Langston hit 6-of-10 from the floor and finished with 19 points. Justin Seymour added 11 points to the MSU attack.
The Racers enjoyed a 45-to-22 advantage on the boards. Freshman Brion Sanchious grabbed seven in 18 minutes of floor time.