Junior Skyelar Potter and second-year man Johni Broome scored 17 points each, while grad student Tray Hollowell had 15 - including his 1,000th career collegiate point, as Morehead State men's basketball held off Belmont 83-74 at Johnson Arena Thursday night.
The Eagles (13-5/5-0 OVC) won their 16th consecutive home game since December 2020, their OVC-best seventh straight overall game in 2021-22 and their third straight win in the series with Belmont. The Bruins slipped to 14-5 overall and 4-2 in the OVC.
In front of the largest home crowd of the season, the home team proceeded to build an 11-point halftime lead and boosted their advantage to as much as 19 (70-51) with 8:17 remaining before the visitors chipped away and cut it to only four with 54 seconds left. But free throws and a couple of transition dunks iced the win.
Hollowell, who scored 15 points tonight and hit three three-pointers, hit his second three-pointer at the 10:02 mark of the first to eclipse 1,000 career points. In four years at Wofford, he registered 799 points.
Meanwhile, Potter drained four of the Eagles' 11 three pointers to score his 17 points. In 28 minutes, Broome also corralled a career-high 18 rebounds (13 defensive boards) and blocked three shots, the 11th double-double of the year and 24th of his career.
In the back-court, point guard Ta'Lon Cooper was his usual solid self. The OVC leader in assists per game dished out eight assists and scored 14 points. Cooper drained a three-ball at the end of the shot clock with 1:50 left that pushed the Eagles' lead from five to eight during the critical final two minutes. Hollowell also hit four free throws in the final 50 seconds to preserve the lead.
The Eagles finished at 50 percent from three-point range (11-of-22) and 46 percent overall (28-of-61). The Eagles also won with a 16-for-20 free throw shooting efficiency.
Belmont was paced by Ben Sheppard by 18 points, while Nick Muszynski had 15. MSU out-rebounded the Bruins 43-34, now out-rebounding 33 teams in the last two seasons.
Morehead State is back in action for a busy week of action Saturday as SIUE visits at 4 p.m. ET.
