RICHMOND, Ky. – It's safe to say that there weren't very many, if any, fans in attendance at tonight's game that had ever seen this happen before.
The Eastern Kentucky Colonels knocked off visiting Savannah State 87-59 in front of 2,700 fans, giving the team its first 4-0 start since the 1951-52 season.
The Colonels started sloppy, falling behind 8-2 in the first two minutes of the game, but soon righted the ship after mounting a big 12-0 run that put the Colonels in front 14-8 with 13:49 to play in the opening frame.
Eastern would slowly build its lead to 20 behind a layup from Michael Brock, but Savannah State cut into the lead late in the half, and trailed by 19 at intermission.
The Tigers came out inspired in the second half and forced six EKU turnovers in the first 3:06 of the final frame, and used the miscues to their advantage to cut the lead back to 15 with 16:47 left.
A Jason McLeish trey put the lead back to 19, but the Lions would rally again to cut it to 15 with 15:29 to play.
The furious Tiger rally wouldn't end there. A Mark Williams trey cut the lead to 50-40 but it would prove to be as close as Savannah State would come for the remainder of the game.
A Michael Haney layup with 7:13 left started the Colonels on a 14-0 run that put EKU ahead 77-49 with 3:15 to play, effectively quelling any chance for a Tiger upset.
"I was disappointed with our defense in the first half," said head coach Travis Ford. "We have to be better than we were tonight if we want to continue to win games. I haven't been pleased with our practices the last couple of days. We've been very sloppy, just like we were tonight."
Matt Witt led the Colonels in scoring, pouring in 24 points on 7-of-12 shooting. Witt also canned 6-of-10 three-pointers on the night.
Haney posted the season's first double-double, scoring 15 points and pulling down 11 boards. Alonzo Hird also added 11 boards to go with his seven points.
McLeish was the only other Colonel in double figures with 13 points.
The Colonels will hit the road for a Saturday game at Coastal Carolina, marking the beginning of a stretch that will see EKU play 10 of its next 11 contests away from home.
GAME NOTES
IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME: The Colonels 4-0 start this season marks the first time in 53 years that a Colonel squad posted an unblemished mark through the first four contests. However, some may say that the 1961-62 team also posted a 4-0 mark to start the year. That season, the Colonels played the Phillips 66ers, which is considered an exhibition team, in the third game of the year. The Colonels lost their fifth game of the year, giving the team either a 3-0 or 4-0 start, depending on your perspective.
HANEY STREAK ENDS: Michael Haney made his first two field goal attempts, but misfired on the third, bringing his streak of consecutive makes to an end at 15. Haney ended the game with 15 points after going 7-of-10 from the field. Haney is now averaging 16.5 points on the year.
