EIU, SIUE Drop College Men's Basketball Losses

EIU lost its fourth straight game falling to 7-8 overall, 0-3 in the OVC.  EKU improved to 5-11 overall, 2-1 in the OVC.

EKU led by as many as 18 points in the first half holding a 46-32 lead at the half.  EKU opened with an 11-2 run with EIU’s lone early basket on a lay-up by Jordan Skipper-Brown.  EKU would pull out to a 24-6 lead. 

George Dixon cut the Colonels lead to single digits at 35-25 on a three point play with 3:56 left in the first half.  In the second half Dixon would score with 15:22 left in the game to get EIU down by single digits at 48-40.  Dixon posted his sixth double-double of the year with 15 points and 11 rebounds.

EIU would go on a 12-1 run with Josiah Wallace scoring ten straight points as the Panthers trailed 59-58 with 7:46 to play.  Wallace had 16 points for EIU as one of four Panthers in double figures.  Mack Smith then gave EIU the lead at 62-61 with 6:27 remaining as he blocked a shot on one end and converted a jumper on the other.

In the final minute the two teams went back-and-forth with the game tied five times.  Jomaru Brown put EKU up 73-71 with a driving lay-up.  Brown led all scorers with 24 points. 

EIU had one final look at the basket to tie the game but the Panthers fell short.  Smith had 13 points for EIU.  Marvin Johnson added 15.
EKU had 13 points off the bench by Lachlan Anderson and 17 by Ty Taylor.

Morehead State 83, SIUE 77

MOREHEAD, Ky. – SIUE nearly overcame a 16-point halftime deficit Thursday, but Morehead State outlasted the Cougars for an 83-77 win in Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball at Johnson Arena.

SIUE fell to 2-1 in the OVC and 4-12 overall. Morehead State improved to 8-8 overall and 2-1 in the OVC.

"We can overcome a 16-point lead," SIUE Head Coach Brian Barone said. "We had several opportunities to do that, but it is really hard. It is hard to do that on the road against a well-coached team in which guys made the shots they needed to make and executed the right way."

In a true game of runs, SIUE had trimmed a double-digit Morehead State lead to nine points (37-28) on a three-pointer by Cam Williams with 4:17 to play in the first half before the Eagles stretched the lead. MSU used a 9-0 run to open its biggest lead of the game at 46-28 on a jumper from Juice Thomas with 53 seconds to play before halftime. Mike Adewunmi knifed his way to an open layup just before the break to make it 46-30 at halftime.

The Eagles connected on 50 percent of their shots (15-30) in the first half and buried 12-14 attempts at the free throw line in the first 20 minutes.

"We need to do a better job of coming out the right way mentally, sticking to the game plan, and not fouling," Barone added. "I thought we fouled a lot early. When we're establishing the culture this way, it starts with me."

The runs continued in the second half with SIUE opening the period with a 8-0 run to cut the lead back to eight just two minutes into the period. After the Eagles stretched the lead again, Shamar Wright made a personal run to pull the Cougars close again. It was 53-41 MSU and then Wright scored the next six points. He scored on a put back-layup, drew a foul and hit the free throw and then pulled down a defensive rebound and drained a three-pointer to make it 53-47. Wright finished with 10 points to tie his career high and a career-best six rebounds.

"You see Shamar kind of feel it out in the first half," Barone said. "I told him at half that I was rolling with him. I am a big believer in him. I think he has star-potential."

The teams traded runs several times during the half and SIUE cut the lead to 74-69 after a pair of free throws from Mike Adewunmi with 1:29 left.
Following Morehead State miss, Wright pulled down a rebound and started a run out for the Cougars, but they couldn't connect and instead loss the ball out of bounds.

"It's a five-point game with 45 seconds or a minute left, and we have the ball in transition, we don't catch the ball and it's bobbled," Barone said. "I was trying to call timeout but we didn't grab the ball. There were other plays down the stretch where we lost our composure.

"We're fighting to overcome where we have been to get where we want to go," Barone continued.

Morehead State didn't hit a field goal in the game's final 5:29, but knocked down 11 free throws over the game's final 43 seconds to seal the victory.
Cam Williams led SIUE with a season-high 25 points. He was 9-16 from the floor and 4-8 from three-point range, tying his career-high with four made three-pointers. He added three assists and three steals.

"It was nice to see," Barone said of Williams. "Cam played within himself. He took pretty good shots, for the most part."

Tyresse Williford scored 15 points and led SIUE with seven rebounds and five assists. Moore scored 14 points.

Jordan Walker paced Morehead State with a game-high 28 points. He was 5-9 from the field and 14-15 at the free throw line.

"We lost Walker way too much," Barone said. "It felt like he had seven or nine free throws in the first 10 minutes. He was 4-8 (from long distance). I would say three, if not all four of them were because of a lack of discipline when guarding him. We had the ball contained and we over-helped and gambled and he hit a shot every time he needed to. That is the discipline we need to obtain moving forward."

SIUE was 25-64 (39 percent) from the field and 11-25 from three-point range, marking the second time this season it had hit more than 10 three-pointers in a game.  

"We have a lot of guys who have ability and we just have to put it together," Barone said. "We're going to get on the bus and prepare for Eastern Kentucky. We have to get ready to roll for the next one."

The Cougars face the Colonels Saturday in a 3:30 p.m. central time start in Richmond, Kentucky.