TUESDAY'S SCORES
Morehead State 70, @Southern Indiana 68
MOREHEAD STATE 70, SOUTHERN INDIANA 68
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - For the third time in the last four seasons, Morehead State Men's Basketball has opened the Ohio Valley Conference schedule 3-0, but tonight it didn't come easy. The Eagles built a double digit lead late in the second half but then withstood a furious Screaming Eagle rally before finally securing a 70-68 road win at USI's Liberty Arena on New Year's Eve.
MSU (8-6/3-0 OVC) upended USI for the third time in as many seasons on its home court. Morehead State led 61-50 with 4:54 to play after Jerone Morton's three-pointer, but USI doubled up the visitors the rest of the way. Jack Campion (who already had two game-winning shots this season) had a open heave at the buzzer from three-point range in front of his bench, but it bounced off as time expired. MSU had a couple of chances to ice the game at the free throw line but missed the second of two twice with less than 15 seconds remaining.
Morehead State's win was its fifth in a row. Kenny White, Jr., led the way with 23 points. Morton played 35 minutes and scored 15, while Anouar Mellouk produced a season-high 12 points and led the Eagles with eight rebounds. MSU ended up with a +10 rebounding edge (41-31). The visiting Eagles also hit 5-of-9 three pointers and forced USI into just 3-of-13. MSU managed to hit 47 percent (24-of-51) for the night.
Damoni Harrison led the home squad with a game-high 24 points, while Braxton Jones came off the bench to score 20. The rest of the Screaming Eagle bench contingent, however, did not score a point. Morehead State also kept up its furious pace of scoring in the paint with 36 points there.
MSU led 33-29 at the half after George Marshall drained a three-ball with five seconds left in the opening 20 minutes. The Eagles continued to build their advantage and led by 11 (45-34) with 13:07 left after Mellouk cashed in a layup. The lead remained between 6-10 until Morton knocked down his second triple at that 4:54 mark of the final half.
Even after that, MSU still held an 11-point cushion with less than four minutes left before USI began to chip away. Campion's jumper with 21 seconds left had USI within 66-64. White canned a couple of free throws, and Tyler Brelsford and Kade Ruegsegger each made one in the final 13 seconds as MSU held on.