CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Freshman
Tahj Eaddy scored a career-high 22 points as Southeast Missoui (11-15, 6-5) fell to Morehead State (11-12, 7-3) by a score of 89-81 Saturday afternoon at the Show Me Center.
Eaddy's 3-pointer gave SEMO its last lead of the game at 78-76 with 5:13 remaining. The Redhawks then went scoreless for the final 2:10 before suffering their first home loss in Ohio Valley Conference play this season.
MSU made nine of its final 10 shots and rallied behind a stretch of 14-straight points by Miguel Dicent to overpower SEMO down the stretch. Dicent was scoreless before his rampage.
The Eagles shot a red-hot 69.2 percent (18-of-26) from the field in the second half and finished with a 59.3 percent clip for the day.
MSU outscored SEMO, 20-6, inside the paint and added 13 points off 10 Redhawk turnovers in the first half.
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After walk-on
Eli Sample drove the lane for a layup to tie the game at 33-33 with 5:11 left, MSU answered with a 9-2 run to take a 42-35 halftime lead.
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SEMO, which shot 51.9 percent from the field in the game's opening 20 minutes, had five players with two fouls. Starters
Trey Kellum,
Antonius Cleveland and
Denzel Mahoney all played limited minutes due to the early foul trouble.
Eaddy shot 8-of-11 from the field and 4-of-5 from 3-point range en route to his career-high. He also had five assists in 36 minutes.
Cleveland followed with 19 points, while Kellum added 15 points and six rebounds. Mahoney had 11 points and six rebounds, as well.
DeJuan Marrero paved the way for MSU with a double-double 24 points and 12 rebounds. Four other starters, including Xavier Moon (17), Ronnye Beamon (14), Dicent (14) and Treshaad Williams (12) posted double figures in the scoring column.
MSU outrebounded SEMO, 32-24, and scored 36 of its points inside the paint in a game that featured seven ties and 15 lead changes. The Redhawks shot 55.4 percent (31-of-56) from the field and made 58.6 percent of their shots in the second half.
SEMO played in front of a crowd of 2,919, its largest home attendance of the season.
The Redhawks travel to SIU Edwardsville on Feb. 9.
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