NASHVILLE — Seniors Angelo Warner and Karam Mashour combined for 40 points and 16 rebounds to power the Morehead State men’s basketball team to an 86-70 Ohio Valley Conference victory over Tennessee State on Monday evening at the Gentry Center.
The Eagles improve to 13-16 overall, 8-6 in league play and 7-9 on the road. The Tigers, who have lost six straight games, slip to 5-24 overall, 2-12 in conference action and 5-7 at home. MSU sweeps the season series and moves to 35-30 all-time versus TSU.
“I thought we were solid tonight,” Head Coach Sean Woods said. “We did what we needed to on the road. We got an early lead and kept our foot on the gas, which I was proud of. We hadn’t played in over a week (due to weather), but came out pretty focused.”
Warner knocked down 7-of-11 from the floor and 5-of-7 from the free-throw stripe to finish with 21 points, nine rebounds and three assists. The performance was his 16th of 20-or-more points as an Eagle. He also moved into 10th all-time at MSU with 1,480 points.
“We needed Angelo tonight, and he delivered,” Woods said. “Angelo has been our guy every season I’ve been here, and I’m hoping this will get him going for the duration of the year. He’s one of our leaders and his production is very important to our team success.”
Mashour drilled 7-of-13 from the field and 4-of-5 from the foul line to finish with 19 points and seven rebounds. The effort was his 15th this season of 10-or-more points. He continues to pace the Eagles in scoring (14.4 ppg) and rebounding (7.9 rpg) during OVC play.
“Karam has been very steady for us in conference play, and we’ve needed that,” Woods said. “I have stayed on Karam because he’s talented, and I think we can get even more out of him. He is one of the better players in this league when he’s hungry and aggressive.”
Junior Brent Arrington added 15 points and five steals for Morehead State, while senior Billy Reader contributed 13 points. Arrington made 4-of-7 from the floor and all six free-throw attempts, while Reader missed just one shot from the field in seven attempts.
The Eagles posted scoring advantages of 32-7 off the bench, 40-26 in the paint and 10-2 on the fast break. Morehead State handed out 17 assists and limited itself to 11 turnovers. Tennessee State was credited with just nine helpers and committed 16 miscues.
Junior Xavier Richards collected a game-best 23 points for Tennessee State on 7-of-11 from the floor and 9-of-11 from the free-throw line. Junior Marcus Roper and senior Jay Harris added 12 points each. Both teams shot better than 50 percent from the floor for the game.
Morehead State tallied a 33-26 rebounding advantage, including 10-6 on the offensive end. The Eagles are +96 in total rebounds, +68 in offensive boards and +29 in second-chance points over their last 15 contests. MSU has only been outrebounded once during the stretch.
Morehead State wraps up regular-season play on Thursday versus Tennessee Tech at 9 p.m. ET and Saturday against Jacksonville State at 6 p.m. Thursday’s contest will be televised nationally by CBS Sports Network. Saturday’s affair is Senior Day. For more, visit MSUEagles.com.
“There are still lots of scenarios with regards to OVC Tournament seeding, but our focus needs to be on us,” Woods added. “If we take care of business with two quality opponents in Tennessee Tech and Jacksonville State, we will have some momentum heading into Nashville.”
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