A balanced attack helped lead the Morehead State men's basketball team past Austin Peay, 75-65, on Wednesday night at Johnson Arena.
MSU improved to 11-9 on the season and 5-3 in Ohio Valley Conference play. The Governors fell to 9-14 on the season and 2-6 in the OVC. MSU won for the seventh time in the previous eight tries against the Govs.
"We received contributions from a lot of guys tonight. I thought Malik (Maitland) really played a good game in his first start, Brent (Arrington) was the catalyst, keeping everything together, and Xavier (Moon) hit big shots when we needed them," said head coach Sean Woods. "I was really impressed with our bigs and their ability to catch the ball and finish at the rim."
Morehead State led the majority of the way and stretched its lead to as large as 14 midway through the second half. After MSU took a 28-23 lead into the locker room, ASPU came out of the locker room and went on an 8-2 run to take a one-point lead, 31-30. The Eagles answered back with a 14-0 run and stretched their lead out to 13 (44-31). The Governors never saw the lead again, getting no closer than eight after that.
The Eagles finished with five guys in double figures. Junior guard Xavier Moon led the way with 16 points. Junior forward DeJuan Marrero scored 14 points and led the team with six rebounds. Senior Anthony Elechi finished with 13 points and senior Brent Arrington recorded his first double-double of the season (10 points and a career high 11 assists). Junior Treshaad Williams tied a career high with 10 points and freshman Malik Maitland added six assists.
Morehead State shot 55 percent from the field and the Eagles outscored ASPU 48-27 in the paint. The home team won the rebounding battle as well, pulling down 31 total and 11 on the offensive end. MSU turned Austin Peay over 16 times and recorded 11 steals, converting 14 fast break points. The Eagles assisted on 22 of their 33 baskets.
"I thought we were solid offensively, the zone tried to make us stagnant a little bit, but I thought we paced ourselves and didn't try to rush things. We were solid and took our time and made some great plays attacking the seam of the defense," said Woods.
Senior forward Chris Horton led the way for the Governors with 22 points and nine rebounds.
Both coaching staffs wore sneakers during the game in support of Coaches vs. Cancer Suits and Sneakers Awareness Week.
MSU plays again on Saturday at Eastern Kentucky. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. ET.