Eastern Kentucky (13-13; 8-7 OVC) jumped out to an early lead, but Morehead State (14-12; 9-6 OVC) rebounded to clip the Colonels 80-71– snapping their winning streak at five – and claimed sole possession of third place in a very tight OVC race.
The difference in the game came at the charity stripe as Morehead State made 29-of-33 foul shots while EKU was 7-of-13. The free throw differential more than made up for the difference in the final score.
EKU came out hot as the game got underway. Ben Rushing put the cap on a 15-5 run with a trey from the right corner with 14:14 remaining in the first half. The Colonels would lead by as many as 11 on two occasions in the opening frame, before Morehead State would rally.
After a Tim Volpenhein putback gave Eastern Kentucky its second 11-point advantage of the half, the Eagles mounted a 19-3 run that put them ahead 31-26 with 4:16 to go in the half following a Ramon Kelly free throw.
Matt Witt's three-pointer with 1:10 to play in the opening stanza cut the lead back to one, but a pair of David Aliu charity shots built the Morehead State advantage back to three at the intermission.
The Eagles would build the lead to six in t he opening minutes of the second period, but the Colonels proved to have some fight left.
A 7-0 run, keyed by Rushing's three assists in that span, put the Colonels up 45-44.
Kelly gave Morehead the lead again on a putback, but EKU would retaliate with a Brandon Moore trey that provided a two-point lead.
The lead would prove to be the last for the Colonels, however. Morehead State put together a 12-0 run, highlighted by two dunks from Chad McKnight, put the dampers on any hopes of an EKU comeback.
The Colonels would cut the lead back to two points on a Jon Bentley layup, but the Eagles surged back in front again, building the lead to 10 with 57 seconds to go and eased in for the win at the free throw line.
"You have to give credit to Morehead," said a dejected EKU head coach Travis Ford. "They really took us out of what we wanted to do. They did a good job doubling the post and they controlled us on the perimeter. If you had to give an MVP of the game, it would be their team defense."
However, Ford was pleased with the announced crowd of 5,150.
"It was an incredible atmosphere for us tonight, it was the best I've seen since I've been here," Ford added. I wish we could have won this one for them. Our fans cheered and our students were loud. Seeing the crowd like it was tonight just really made me want to win it for them."
Witt led the Colonels in scoring with 22 points while Rushing added 12. Bentley scored 11 and Haney posted 10 in the EKU ledger. Haney's seven boards led the way for the Colonels.
Minard paced the Eagles with 24 points while Kelly posted eight rebounds and 10 points.
The Colonels will close out the regular season on Saturday against Austin Peay in Clarksville. The game is slated to begin at 8:30 PM.
