Morehead State fended off a furious comeback attempt by Southern Illinois University Edwardsville men’s basketball Thursday night to escape with a 70-63 win in the Ohio Valley Conference opener at Vadalabene Center.
Keaton Jackson / Photo by SIUE Sports Information
The Cougars trailed by as many as 13 points in the second half and trailed 62-51 with 5:51 left in the game before a 9-0 run trimmed Morehead State’s lead to just two points (62-60) with 2:39 to play.
Angelo Warner snapped the run with a jumper to put the Eagles ahead 64-60 with 2:22 left. The Cougars (0-1 OVC, 3-11) cut the lead to two twice more. Keaton Jackson sank one of two free throw attempts with 1:10 to play for a 65-63 score. Morehead State (1-0 OVC, 10-6) scored the game’s final five points, including three from the foul line.
Trailing 67-63 with 47 seconds to play, Rozell Nunn got an open look for a three from the left wing. His shot rimmed out and the Eagles snagged the rebound.
“From an effort standpoint, I thought our guys were great,” SIUE Head Coach Lennox Forrester said. “They didn’t quit, and they didn’t give up. Our guys clawed their way back into the game. Unfortunately (Morehead State) made more plays down the stretch than we did.”
For the game, the Cougars collected a season-low 16 field goals and hit just 32 percent (16-50) of their shots from the floor. SIUE was 6 for 20 from 3-point range.
“You’re going to have nights where your shots aren’t falling,” Forrester added. “I thought we settled for some shots instead of working to get better shots.”
The Cougars tied a season high with 37 free throw attempts but converted just 25 of them (67.6 percent) for the game.
“We also didn’t make free throws tonight, and some of the free throws we missed were from some of our better shooters,” Forrester said.
After falling behind 4-0 to start the game, SIUE scored the next 10 points and 14 of the game’s next 16 to lead 14-6 with 12:09 to play in the first half. The Eagles scored the next seven points to go ahead 15-14 after a pair of free throws by Chad Posthumus. Morehead State led by as many as 10 points (31-21) in the first period and held a 34-27 advantage at halftime.
Donivine Stewart led the Cougars with 17 points. He was 5 for 9 from the field. Keaton Jackson was the only other Cougar to score in double figures. He scored 10 points and grabbed four rebounds. Jackson blocked four Morehead State shots, marking the fourth time this year the junior has collected four blocks in a game.
Angelo Warner scored 17 points to lead the Eagles, who were 23 for 55 (41.8 percent) from the field as a team. Drew Kelly chipped in 12 points for MSU. Posthumus scored five points and hauled in a game-high 10 rebounds.
The Eagles, who entered the game with the 33rd best rebounding margin in the country (+9) out rebounded SIUE just 41-36. Both teams finished with 11 offensive rebounds.
SIUE remains home to play host to Eastern Kentucky Saturday night. The game is scheduled to tipoff at 7 p.m. and will be televised by FOX Sports Midwest Plus. It is the second game of a doubleheader with the women’s team.
