MOREHEAD, Ky. – Season-high point totals by senior guard Jordan Walker and sophomore forward Jaden Stanley-Williams helped the Morehead State men’s basketball team fend off visiting SIUE 83-77 Thursday night at Johnson Arena.
The Eagles, who held a 16-point lead at the half, weathered a scrappy rally by the Cougars as they improved to 8-8 overall and 2-1 in the OVC. MSU improved to 9-3 all-time against SIUE, which slid to 4-12 overall and 1-2 in the OVC.
Walker nailed a career-best 14 free throws on 15 attempts, in fact hitting his first 14 of the night, to account for half of his team-best point total of 28. Stanley-Williams notched 13, shot 6-of-8 from the field, and had a team-best three blocked shots.
Morehead State raced out to a 46-30 halftime lead only see the Cougars’ offense get to the free throw line 22 times in the final half and outscore them 47-37.
Morehead State finishes off a five-game homestand Saturday when Eastern Illinois visits at 3 p.m. ET.
KEY MOMENTS
– With the game tied at 12 with 13:46 left first half, Stanley-Williams kick-started a 13-3 run with a layup and a free throw. MSU pushed its lead to 25-15 at 9:54 after two charity tosses from Walker.
– SIUE cut the Eagle lead to 37-28 with 4:17 left in the period, but a 9-0 run was initiated by Thomas’ runner in the lane.
– MSU’s largest first-half cushion was 18 (46-28) before leading 46-30 at the halftime pause.
– The visitors scored the first eight points in the second half before Walker canned a long-range jumper for three at the 17:16 mark.
– SIUE trimmed the Eagle advantage all the way back to six (63-57) with 9:53 left but consecutive buckets by Thomas and Stanley-Williams made it a double-digit lead again.
– Junior James Baker’s tip-in with 5:29 left propelled the hosts to a 74-62 lead.
– The Eagles hit nine free throws in the final five minutes depite not hitting a field goal.
KEY STATS
– Junior guard Juice Thomas tallied 15 points and five assists.
– Freshman Ta’lon Cooper netted 12 points and had his second perfect game shooting, hitting all three of his field goals.
– Morehead State, which leads the OVC in blocked shots, swatted eight more tonight.
– The Eagles’ 46 first-half points tied for the highest single-half output against a Division I team this season.
– Walker hit 23 consecutive free throws in the last three games before missing his finale tonight.
– Cam Williams scored a career-high 25 points for the Cougars, but SIUE made just 16-of-25 free throws compared to 26-of-34 for MSU.
– MSU has won two straight games despite not hitting a field goal in the final 5+ minutes of each contest.
QUOTING COACH SPRADLIN
“We told our guys they would amp up the intensity. They (SIUE) have been very scrappy since Christmas. Eighteen to 20 point leads in this league are never really safe. But, you know what, we shot it well from the free throw line tonight and we found a way to win and made plays when we had to.”
“I thought in the first half, Juice was the best player on the floor. Defensively he was tenacious, and he kept our team together.”
“Jaden was the difference in the game tonight. He had two big offensive put-backs and a three-point play. He came up with three blocks as well. Just a great floor game from him.”
“Jordan has really come into his own again. We are going to need him down the stretch. Jordan is playing really well right now.”
