RUSTON, La. — The Morehead State men’s basketball team used second-half runs of 8-0 and 11-0 to register a 69-49 non-conference win over Presbyterian on Saturday night at the Thomas Assembly Center. The game was part of a four-team Coaches vs. Cancer Classic round robin.
The Eagles, who play in the Ohio Valley Conference, improve to 2-3 overall and 1-0 on a neutral court. The Blue Hose, which competes in the Big South Conference, falls to 1-3 overall 0-2 on a neutral floor. It was the first-ever meeting between Morehead State and Presbyterian.
“Give credit to our young men for the way they played,” Head Coach Sean Woods said. “It feels good to get back in the win column. We learned a lot in our losses to UNLV, Cincinnati and Louisiana Tech, but the hope is we can continue to play well and string together some victories.”
Morehead State held a 29-25 halftime lead, but pushed the cushion to 37-25 with 16:55 remaining on its half-opening run. The Eagles opened up a 57-36 advantage with 7:26 to play on its second surge of the period. MSU’s largest lead of 25 points came with 4:08 remaining in the contest.
Senior Angelo Warner and junior Brent Arrington led MSU with 18 points apiece. Warner drilled 7-of-9 from the field and 4-of-5 from three-point range. Arrington canned 6-of-8 overall and 4-of-4 from the free-throw line. Senior Karam Mashour rounded out the double-figure scorers with 10.
“Angelo and Brent are the guys who stir our coffee,” Woods said. “They both played well tonight, but we’ve come to expect that. They are guys who give us consistent production on both ends of the floor. I think we have three of the OVC’s best guards with those two and Kareem (Storey).”
Freshman Marquel Willis collected eight points in 16 minutes off Morehead State’s bench, while senior Chad Donley recorded six points and six rebounds in just eight minutes.
Morehead State forced 24 turnovers while committing just 12. The Eagles posted advantages of 22-6 in points off turnovers, 11-0 in fast-break points, 10-2 in second-chance points and 10-6 in steals. MSU had a 12-point advantage from long distance and four-point edge from the foul line.
“We showed a lot of energy tonight, especially in the second half,” Woods said. “I thought our defensive pressure got to Presbyterian, and we eventually wore them down. We forced 24 turnovers, came up with 10 steals and our defense led to some easy buckets during our runs.”
MSU collected 11 more free-throw attempts than Presbyterian, which marked the first time this year it has taken more shots than its opponent from the foul line. The Eagles have committed just 56 turnovers this season, which is an improvement of 19 from its five-game mark last year.
Senior Jordan Downing paced PC with 13 points, on 4-of-8 from three-point range, and 10 rebounds. Classmate William Truss contributed nine boards and a game-high six blocked shots.
Morehead State closes out its grueling five-game week against defending Patriot League champion American on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. ET. The contest will be played at Lousiana Tech’s Thomas Assembly Center.
“We were able to play 11 guys tonight,” Woods added. “My goal was to rest some of our starters down the stretch to save their legs. We have a very quick turnaround with Sunday’s game against American. It’s been a very long week, and the hope is can finish it on a positive note.”
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