NASSAU, Bahamas — Senior Karam Mashour posted game highs of 18 points and 23 rebounds to lead the Morehead State men’s basketball team to a 112-55 exhibition pounding of the Pyramid Food Rockets on Monday evening at Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium.
Mashour finishes the Bahamas trip with 56 points (18.7 ppg) and 60 rebounds (20.0 rpg) in three contests. He connected on 25-of-49 from the field in 73 minutes. The UNLV transfer has played just five regular-season minutes in two years at Morehead State.
“Karam stepped up in all three games and should be a factor for us this year,” Head Coach Sean Woods said. “I’m happy for Karam because he’s missed two entire seasons. He sat out as a redshirt in 2012-13 and missed nearly all of 2013-14 with a back injury.”
The Eagles scored 330 points in three Bahamas affairs, while allowing just 181. MSU hammered the Grand Bahamas All-Stars on Saturday (115-69) and Real Deal Shockers on Sunday (103-57) before completing the sweep with a 57-point clobbering late Monday.
“I’m really proud of our young men for travelling down here and taking care of business,” Woods said. “Everyone had a chance to play and everyone contributed. We showed the energy and passion that I like us to play with. I’m also glad we came away injury free.”
Morehead State forced 29 turnovers in the finale, while committing just 12. The Eagles posted a 93-54 advantage in field-goal attempts, 40-2 upper hand in points off turnovers, 18-7 edge in steals and converted in transition a countless number of times.
“We knew the Pyramid Food Rockets didn’t have the best ball handlers, so we pressed and trapped almost the entire game,” Woods said. “I saw several good things from our defense tonight. We worked on what we do and didn’t take our foot off the gas.”
Seven Eagles reached double figures in the scoring column. Senior Angelo Warner recorded 14, while classmate Kareem Storey managed 13 points and 13 assists. Storey finishes with 26 helpers and just six turnovers during the three-game foreign tour.
“I’m happy with how we played,” Woods said. “It’s been great to face other teams and work on the things we do. Our game plan, in all three contests, was to wear these teams down with our speed, athleticism and depth. The results indicate we did that.”
Junior walk-on Jared Ravenscraft contributed a trio of long balls and exhibition-best 12 points. He finishes the three-game set with 25 points after not scoring during a regular-season game in 2013-14. He previously had performances of nine and four points.
“I am so ecstatic for Jared,” Woods said. “He’s a guy who has gotten better every year and he’s starting to see some fruits of his labor. We got Jared some minutes tonight, and there was no letdown when he was on the floor. He played good defense and hit some shots.”
Morehead State started slowly, but held the Food Pyramid Rockets to 13 minutes without a field goal from midway through the first quarter until late in the second period. The Eagle offense rolled in the second half with 32 points in the third quarter and 29 more in the final 10 minutes.
“These foreign trips are so important to college basketball programs,” Woods added. “It started with 10 days of practice back in Morehead and finishes with six days of just us in the Bahamas. We have learned a lot, on and off the floor. I also feel like our team chemistry will be better.”
Morehead State has a “free day” on Tuesday and will make its way back to Kentucky on Wednesday.
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