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Moon's 26 Points Not Enough in Eagles' 76-73 Setback at Tech

MSU Athletics

Senior guard Xavier Moon scored a game-high 26 points, his fifth 20-point game in 2016-17, but the Morehead State men's basketball team came out on the short end of a 76-73 Ohio Valley Conference contest at Tennessee Tech Thursday night.

Morehead State (9-12/5-2 OVC) opened the game on a 12-0 run, but it was held to just 31 percent (9-of-29) shooting in the final half when TTU (9-14/5-3) outscored the Eagles 40-31. Tech nailed 11 three-pointers on the night, including eight in the final 20 minutes.

"We jumped out on them early, but you have to give their (TTU) guys credit for fighting back," said interim head coach Preston Spradlin. "We have to take care of the ball better, and I tell our guys every game discipline is going to be a key factor to getting a win. Tonight we didn't do that."

Senior forward Dejuan Marrero notched his 10th double-double (14 points, 11 rebounds), while senior guard Miguel Dicent also reached double figures with 12. Moon, who drilled 5-of-7 from three-point range, equaled his second-highest scoring output of the season, tying the 26 he had at Austin Peay. He also had a team-high seven assists.

Aleksa Jugovic led the Golden Eagles with 25 points, on the strength of five treys. Hakeem Rogers had 21, and Curtis Phillips chipped in 13.

Morehead State out-rebounded an opponent for the 14th time this season, pulling down 42 boards to Tech's 29. The Eagles also connected on 20-of-23 from the free throw line and are now 32-of-36 (.880) from the stripe in the last two games.

The Eagles vaulted to the 12-0 early lead, including a pair of Moon three-pointers, and Tech missed its first six field goals. Senior forward Treshaad Williams capped the opening flurry with a layup at the 15:40 mark. TTU trimmed the Eagles' lead down to as low as four (35-31 and 38-34) twice before MSU settled for a 42-36 halftime cushion.

Morehead State pushed out to a 46-36 lead with 16:47 remaining, but the hosts constructed a 19-6 scoring rally, capped by a three-pointer from Phillips, to take their first lead (55-52) with 7:24 left. Tech managed to build its largest lead (67-60) at the 4:31 mark before the Eagles clawed back.

A Moon jumper at the 1:27 mark gave MSU a 70-69 advantage, but Jugovic came right back with a three-pointer 19 seconds later to put the hosts on top for good. Moon had a corner three-point attempt rim out at the final buzzer.

The Eagles finished at 40 percent (23-of-57) shooting for the contest but also committed 20 turnovers.

Morehead State heads to Jacksonville for its next OVC matchup. The Eagles and Gamecocks face off Saturday at Noon ET.

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