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Eastern Kentucky came into Saturday's morning game against Morehead State at 7-3 in the Ohio Valley Conference, while the Eagles came in at 6-3. The 10 AM tip-off for ESPNU in Richmond, Kentucky was a pivotal one. Not only are these two schools just over an hour apart and rivals, but both are chasing Belmont in the OVC East Division.
Morehead State had a little more to lose coming into today's game. The Eagles were half a game behind the Colonels and had already lost to EKU earlier this year 76-65. Furthermore Sean Woods is 0-3 against the Colonels in his tenure at Morehead. Corey Walden and Glenn Cosey lead the Colonels in that one posting 19 and 18 points respectively.
Morehead State looked like they were going to storm into halftime with some momentum on the road as they took a 33-28 lead at the 3:15 mark courtesy of a Angelo Warner jumper, but the Colonels started to fire back. Orlando Williams nailed a big three and Glenn Cosey and Eric Stutz followed with two layups to tie the game at 35. EKU almost went into the half tied but gave up a silly foul under the basket. Warner would nail two free throws to give the EAgles a 37-35 lead, but the second make was washed out due to a line violation. That meant Morehead State went into halftime with just a 37-36 lead.
The sloppy end to the half did not discourage Wood's Eagles, as Morehead State would slowly but surely expand their lead. A Drew Kelly three pointer at the 13:44 mark would expand the Eagles lead to 50-42. Wood would keep the pedal down and the lead would expand to 13 as Kareem Storey nailed two free throws with 4:25 left.
EKU would try to fight back after another big Orlando Williams three and would ratchet up their pressure defense. Cosey would then score six straight points to pull EKU within six points. The Colonels had a chance to cut the lead to four points, but Tommy Matthews missed the front end of a one-and-one with 27 seconds left and then Corey Walden missed a tip-in lay up on the rebound. In the fray for the loose ball Matthews was nailed with a flagrant foul as he grabbed a Morehead State player in the quick sequence.
The flagrant foul would seal the deal and Morehead State would take the rematch 86-79.
While the Colonels were supposed to be the veteran team, the young Eagles squad started to take on that complexion, especially junior Angelo Warner. Warner finished the game with a career high 33 points, going 10-for-10 from the free throw line. Greg Dotson also added 14 points for the Eagles, while Drew Kelly posted 10.
Five Colonels finished the game in double-figures lead by Cosey with 18.
Morehead State moves to second in the OVC East Division and will head to Jacksonville State on Thursday. Eastern Kentucky will travel to Tennessee Tech on the same night.
