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CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Morehead State (9-10, 3-2) held a commanding +22 rebounding advantage in a 75-59 victory over Southeast Missouri (10-10, 2-4) Thursday night in Ohio Valley Conference action at the Show Me Center.

Southeast, which is now on a season-long four-game losing streak, was outrebounded 45-23. The Redhawks were also outmuscled, 18-4, on the offensive glass.

"Nothing we did tonight went well," said Southeast head coach Dickey Nutt. "When the game was on the line, we didn't show toughness. They hammered us on the glass and that was the difference in the game."

Southeast shot 50 percent from the field, but was outrebounded, 25-10, in a back-and-forth first half which resulted in a 34-34 deadlock.

The Redhawks and Eagles dueled to a total of 10 ties and neither team led by more than four points in the opening stanza.

Southeast trailed for the first 15:44 of the game until Lucas Nutt's two free throws gave the Redhawks a slight 28-26 edge.

Nutt later added a layup and A.J. Jones followed with a jumper to give Southeast its biggest lead at 32-28 with 3:12 left.

MSU answered by scoring six of the last eight points to tie things up at the intermission.

Southeast was ahead, 44-42, with 12:05 left to play in the second half when MSU started to pull away.

The Eagles scored nine consecutive points to kickstart a 29-10 run over the next 10:57. Devon Atkinson's free throws widened MSU's lead to 71-54 with 1:08 remaining.

Atkinson later dropped in two more free throws to give MSU its largest lead of the night (75-56) with 21 seconds left before the Eagles sealed the win.

MSU's 45 rebounds marked the most by any opponent the Redhawks have faced this season. The Eagles had more offensive rebounds (13) than Southeast had total rebounds (10) in the first half alone.

Drew Kelly led all scorers with a game-high 15 points. Angelo Warner followed with 12, while Bakari Turner and Bruce Reed each added 10. Chad Posthumus chipped in a game-high 13 rebounds (8 offensive) for the Eagles, as well.

MSU, which outscored Southeast, 41-25, in the second half, also shot 13 more free throws than the Redhawks. The Eagles made 25-of-34 attempts to the Redhawks 12-of-21.

Nino Johnson led Southeast with 13 points, while Nutt and Tyler Stone followed with 12 and 11, respectively. Nutt scored 10 of his points in the first half.

Southeast, which is 0-3 against the OVC East Division, closes out its two-game homestand against Tennessee Tech Saturday. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m., CT, at the Show Me Center.

"We need to regroup in a hurry," commented Nutt. "We don't have much leadership and confidence right now."