MOREHEAD, Ky. – The Morehead State Eagles closed a physical contest on an 8-0 run to down the Western Carolina Catamounts, 60-52, on Sunday afternoon at Johnson Arena.
“We executed and we were getting the shots we wanted, but we struggled putting the ball in the basket,” said head coach Sean Woods. “We had to shake the cobwebs off a bit, we hadn’t played a game in a week and it showed a little bit tonight. Our defense was great, but we just struggled making shots.”
The Eagles started the game shooting just 1-of-12 and trailed 14-6, but went on a 15-2 run to take the lead and eventually went to the locker room at half with a 26-22 lead.
Morehead State quickly jumped out to a game-high ten-point lead to start the second half at 32-22. Leading 38-31, however, WCU mounted a 7-0 run of their own to even things up. After building the lead back up to 52-47 with 4:14 to go, the Catamounts reeled off five straight to tie it with just under two minutes remaining.
But, the Catamounts would not score again as the Eagles finished the game on an 8-0 run to seal the victory.
Senior forward Anthony Elechi’s layup put MSU up 54-52 and then junior forward DeJuan Marrero knocked down a pair of clutch free throws to stretch the lead to 57-52 with 38 seconds remaining.
Marrero led the way for the Eagles, shooting 5-of-8 from the field and finished with a team-high 16 points and 13 rebounds, including five offensive boards. It marked his first career double-double at MSU.
“He (Marrero) was relentless and he out-toughed them, but that’s just who he is,” said Woods on Marrero’s performance.
Junior guard Corban Collins had 12 points and four assists, while sophomore guard Miguel Dicent and senior guard Brent Arrington each finished with 10 points.
The Eagles won both battles down low, outscoring the Catamounts in the paint, 32-20, and finished with a rebounding edge of 41-32.
They limited the Catamounts to 31 percent shooting, including just 28 percent in the second half. They also held WCU to 4-of-15 shooting from three-point range. The Eagles shot 41 percent for the contest.
Morehead State now travels to Davidson on Wednesday afternoon for a matchup with the Wildcats. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m.
Photos courtesy of Nick Hammonds.
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