WEDNESDAY'S SCORES
@Morehead State 56, IUPUI 51
@Purdue Fort Wayne 74,
Eastern Illinois 69
Chicago State 89,
@SIUE 81
MOREHEAD STATE 56, IUPUI 51
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Morehead State men's basketball held visiting IUPUI to just one field goal in the final 13 minutes of the first half and used a 15-0 run to end the half en route to gutting out a 56-51 victory over the Jaguars Wednesday at Johnson Arena.
The Eagles, who ended a four-game losing skid, improved to 5-4 overall and won for the second straight year over IUPUI. The Jaguars dipped to 2-7.
While Morehead State had a tough night shooting the ball itself, the Eagles made the going tough for the Jaguars. MSU held IUPUI to just 5-of-25 (20 percent) in the opening 20 minutes.
Senior guard Jordan Walker scored a team-high 12 points. With his third point, he joined an elite club in Morehead State history, becoming just the fifth player in program history to have 1,200 career points, 200 assists and 100 steals. For good measure, he also added a game-best six assists. Sophomore forward LJ Bryan helped the Eagles win the rebounding battle with a career-high 11 caroms.
PURDUE FORT WAYNE 74, EASTERN ILLINOIS 69
FORT WAYNE, Ind. - Several key runs by both teams favored Purdue Fort Wayne at the end of the night as the Mastodons held off a late Eastern Illinois rally to win 74-69.
EIU fell to 4-4 on the season while Purdue Fort Wayne improved to 6-5.
After turnovers plagued Purdue Fort Wayne in the opening half, the Mastodons had a ten minute stretch in the second half without a turnover as they built a 13 point lead. Jarred Godfrey had eight of his 20 points during an 11-0 run pulling out to a 59-46 lead.
EIU made a late charge to cut the Mastodons lead down to one point with 46 seconds left as Josiah Wallace had a driving lay-up.
In the final 45 seconds EIU had two turnovers that prevented the Panthers from getting over the hump. Marcus DeBerry made two free throws to make it a three point game with 14 seconds left. EIU then had a turnover that the Mastodons converted for a final basket as time expired.
EiU had an early 10-0 run in the first half building an early eight point lead. JaQualis Matlock knocked down a 3-pointer with 3:05 left in the first half and EIU took a 33-32 lead to the half. EIU forced 12 first-half turnovers that they converted into 13 points. EIU scored only seven points off turnover in the second half.
In the second half Purdue Fort Wayne knocked down 6-of-10 from 3-point range with several coming during the 11-0 run. DeBerry had a par of 3-pointers to finish with 12 points.
Marvin Johnson led EIU with 16 points. Mack Smith had 12 with Wallace adding ten. George Dixon pulled down 14 rebounds just missing a double-double with nine points.
CHICAGO STATE 89, SIUE 81
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Zeke Moore scored a career-high 28 points, but it wasn't enough to give the SIUE Cougars a victory in men's basketball Wednesday at First Community Arena in Vadalabene Center.
Chicago State used precision free throw shooting to stave off the SIUE Cougars 89-81 and hand them their fifth consecutive defeat. SIUE fell to 2-7 while Chicago State improved to 4-6, thanks to converting 25 of 27 fouls shots, including all 16 attempts in the second half.
SIUE twice led by 13 points in the first half, yet Chicago State managed to slice the deficit to 42-41 by halftime.
SIUE stretched its advantage to 45-41 early in the second, then Chicago State went on a nine-point burst and the home Cougars couldn't quite catch the visiting Cougars.
Free throw shooting played a big part in the outcome. While Chicago State didn't miss at the line in the second half, SIUE had inconsistent foul shooting. Overall, SIUE was 15-for-28 on free throws.
Moore, a 6-foot, 7-inch junior from nearby Granite City, Illinois, gave the Cougars life. His game-best scoring included 11 for 16 shooting from the field, including 4 of 6 successful 3-pointers. Moore was 2 of 3 from the foul line and also had six rebounds.
SIUE trailed 79-69 with 1:09 remaining before chipping away at Chicago State's lead. They got to within 85-79 with 14 seconds to go, but no closer. Guard Xavier Johnson carried Chicago State down the stretch. He finished the night with a team-best 23 points, including 13 of 13 free throws. Teammates Andrew Lewis (18 points), Ke'Sean Davis (14 points) and Jace Colley (12 points) also scored in double figures.
It marked Chicago State's first road win over a Division I school since it beat Western Illinois at Macomb in December three years ago. Chicago State had lost 53 consecutive away games to D-1 squads.
Tyresse Williford punched in 15 points for SIUE to complement Moore's big night. Mike Adewunmi added 13 points and Cam Williams had 11 points, nine in the first half. SIUE outrebounded Chicago State 33-30, though the visitors made 28 of 48 shots, including 8 of 16 from 3-point land.