Junior guard Corban Collins scored a career-high 28 points, but it wasn't enough as the Morehead State men's basketball team fell in overtime at Eastern Illinois, 84-82.
It was the second straight overtime game for the Eagles, following an overtime victory over SIU Edwardsville on Thursday night.
The loss moves Morehead State to 9-8 on the year and 3-2 in OVC play. EIU improves to 6-12 overall and 3-3 in league play.
"We didn't make plays down the stretch and defensively we didn't play disciplined when we needed to," said head coach Sean Woods. "All we had to do was play solid and we were totally in control, but we allowed them to hit some threes and that really turned the momentum."
The Eagles built a 46-38 lead at halftime after shooting an impressive 57 percent. They then extended that lead to as much as 13 points at the start of the second half.
But, EIU would not allow Morehead State to pull away. They rallied back from the 13-point deficit to get it back to two points and then after MSU built the lead back up to 11 points, they battled back again.
With under two minutes to go, the Morehead State lead was eight, but the Panthers scored six straight to trim the lead to 72-70. After junior forward Treshaad Williams knocked down one of two free throws, freshman guard Casey Teson drained a three from the corner to force overtime.
EIU scored the first three points in overtime, giving them their first lead since the 10-minute mark of the first half. The Eagles answered with five straight points, courtesy of Collins and senior guard Brent Arrington, to give them back the lead, 78-76, with 1:37 to go. Two possessions later, sophomore guard Cornell Johnston drained a three from the top of the key, giving the Panthers an 80-78 lead.
The Eagles got two chances on the other end, but shots by Arrington and senior forward Anthony Elechi didn't go and EIU's junior guard Demetrius McReynolds knocked down four straight free throws to seal the victory for the Panthers.
Morehead State was outrebounded, 37-36, and Eastern Illinois controlled the inside, scoring 39 points in the paint to MSU's 20.
After the hot shooting first half, the Eagles were held to just 33 percent shooting in the second stanza.
Collins led the way for the Eagles with 28 points on 10-of-16 shooting, and he was 5-of-8 from three-point range. He was 3-of-4 from the free throw line, but missed a clutch free throw in the closing minutes of regulation.
Junior guard Xavier Moon had a huge first half with 17 points, but did not score in the second half. He was 7-of-10 from the field and 3-of-6 from three. Junior forward DeJuan Marrero added eight points and six rebounds, while junior guard Ronnye Beamon had nine points.
For the Panthers, junior guard A.J. Riley led the way with 22 points, while Johnston finished with 15 points and 10 assists. McReynolds added 14 points, while Teson had nine points, shooting 3-of-5 from three-point range.
Next up for the Eagles, they return home to host Tennessee Tech on Thursday night. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
