MONDAY'S SCORES
@Eastern Kentucky 71, Morehead State 68
@Southeast Missouri 82, Lipscomb 77
EASTERN KENTUCKY 71, MOREHEAD STATE 68
RICHMOND, Ky. - A goaltending call on Michael Moreno’s jumper, and his ensuing free throw, with three seconds left in the game broke a 68-68 tie and sent the Eastern Kentucky University men’s basketball team to a 71-68 victory over Morehead State University on Monday at McBrayer Arena.
The Colonels (4-1, 1-0 OVC) overcame a 16-point halftime deficit.
EKU was down 13, 57-44, after Johni Broome’s tip-in for Morehead State with 11:11 remaining. Eastern still trailed by 10, 63-53, after a lay-up by Broome with 8:10 showing on the clock. The Colonels then went on a 15-3 run with five different players scoring.
A jumper by Tre King and a 3-pointer from the right corner by Moreno got the run started and immediately drew the home team within five. Russhard Cruickshank’s 3-pointer from the left wing got Eastern within two, 65-63. With 2:39 left in the game, Wendell Green Jr. came up with a steal and a reverse lay-up to put EKU in front by one, 67-66. King capped the run with a free throw at the 1:47 mark, making it a 2-point advantage, 68-66.
Broome tied it on a jumper with 32 seconds remaining. Eastern allowed the game clock to tick down to 5.3 seconds and then called a time out. Moreno took the inbounds pass, drove the right side of the lane and put up a jumper from the block. The Eagles were called for goaltending and Skyelar Potter committed the foul. Moreno made the free throw with three seconds to play.
King intercepted a long inbound pass to end the game.
The Colonels will host Transylvania University at 4 p.m. on Saturday.
Moreno finished with a career-best 29 points on 10-of-16 shooting from the field. He made 6-of-12 from 3-point range. King added 13 points and nine rebounds. Green contributed nine points, six assists and four steals.
Broome was one of two Eagles to score 13 points. KJ Hunt Jr. added 13 as well.
After shooting 31 percent in the first half, Eastern Kentucky made 53 percent of its shots in the second half. The Colonels turned 27 Morehead State turnovers into 28 points.
Moreno staked Eastern to an early 9-0 lead when he knocked down three 3-pointers in the first three minutes of the game. The Eagles started 0-for-4 from the field and didn’t score until the 15:58 mark.
Potter’s 3-pointer got Morehead State on the board and began a 10-1 run that tied the game. MSU took its first lead, 13-12, on a 3-pointer by Hunt.
A lay-up from Cooper Robb with 8:41 remaining in the first half put Eastern in front 22-19, but the Colonels didn’t score again for more than five minutes. A triple from the top of the key from Green with 3:28 to play in the first stanza snapped an 18-0 run by Morehead State and cut the deficit to 12, 37-25.
The Eagles took a 44-28 advantage into the locker room at the break. MSU shot 75 percent from the field in the first half, going 18-for-20 after missing on its first four attempts.
Moreno scored 18 points in the first half to tie his career-best, which he set just last week at USC Upstate.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 82, LIPSCOMB 77
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Chris Harris and Eric Reed, Jr. each scored 19 points, and Nolan Taylor added 16 points and eight rebounds to lead Southeast Missouri (2-1) to an 82-77 win over Preseason Atlantic Sun Conference favorite Lipscomb (1-4) Monday night.
SEMO and Lipscomb met for the first time on the front end of a quick home-and-home series in three days.
The Redhawks led for the final 11:04 of the game after Reed, Jr.'s jumper gave them a 56-55 edge. SEMO then didn't lead by any more than six points and fought off a Lipscomb team that pulled to within one six times in the last 10 minutes.
Jordan Love drove the lane and scored a big basket to put the Redhawks up, 78-72, at the 2:24 mark. SEMO later made four free throws in the final 1:01 to polish off its second victory of the season.
LU got hot early making six of its first seven 3-pointers of the tight contest. The strong shooting opened a 22-13 lead for the Bisons nearly six-and-a-half minutes in.
SEMO answered with a 13-2 run to take its first lead. Harris buried a 3-pointer to give the Redhawks a 26-24 cushion with just under 10 minutes in the first half. Harris followed his own three with a jumper on SEMO's ensuing possession.
The Redhawks led for the remainder of the first half and stretched their lead to five on three occasions when Reed, Jr. drained a 3-pointer and Taylor and DQ Nicholas each made layups. SEMO held a 39-37 edge at the intermission.
Harris shot 7-of-13 from the field, made three 3-pointers and dished out three assists in the fifth double-digit scoring game of his career. Reed, Jr. gave SEMO a huge spark off the bench going 8-of-10 from the field and 3-of-4 from 3-point range.
Meanwhile, Taylor was a force underneath. He finished with 5-of-9 field goals, 6-of-8 free throws, five offensive rebounds and five assists in 28 minutes. Nicholas rounded out the Redhawks double figure scorers with 12 points, five assists and a game-high three steals.
As a team, SEMO shot 48.4 percent (30-of-62) from the field and outrebounded the Bisons, 31-25. The Redhawks also scored 23 points off 13 Lipscomb turnovers and held a 12-1 advantage in second chance points.
Nana Akenten, who made his first career SEMO start, chipped in nine points and seven rebounds. Akenten also drained three 3-pointers as the Redhawks hit 10 threes in a game for the second time this year.
Jake Wolfe scored 22 points as one of four Lipscomb starters in double figures. The Bisons shot 54.9 percent (28-of-51) from the floor and also buried 10 three-pointers.
First-year SEMO head coach Brad Korn won the first home game of his career.