It was a game of runs, as Tennessee State defeated Morehead State 64-55 in a critical win that secured the Tigers a bye into the quarterfinals of the OVC Tournament.
The Eagles showed the way until a 10-0 spurt put the Tigers up 14-8 on Ahmir Langlais’ jumper at the 9:54 mark. Tennessee State stayed out front for the balance of the half building as much as a 10-point advantage before a late three from Steven Clay trimmed the lead to 29-22 heading into halftime.
Morehead State started the second half on a 10-0 run over the first 2:27 of the half, aided by TSU shooting 0/3 from the floor, 0/2 from the foul line, and committing 3 turnovers, the Eagles were able to take a 32-29 lead. After ties at 33, 35, and 37, Morehead took a 40-37 lead when Kade Ruegsegger connected from downtown at the 11:42 mark of the half. That three-pointer was the catalyst for a 9-0 spurt that put the Eagles up 46-37 with 9:47 remaining. This time it was Tennessee State’s turn to go on a run, reclaiming the lead at 48-46 with an 11-0 burst of their own. The next 3:22 of gameplay would see 3 ties and 5 lead changes before Carlous Williams’ layup put the Tigers up 54-53, which proved the final lead change of the evening as TSU went on to claim victory 64-55.
Carlous Williams led the Tigers with 17 points on 6-9 from the floor and 1-1 from downtown. Knute Wood was the only other Tiger in double figures with 10 points.
In a losing effort, Tyler Brelsford and Dionte Miles paced Morehead State with 10 points apiece.
Tennessee State (15-15, 11-8) wraps up the regular season with a home meeting with Southern Indiana on Saturday afternoon, with tip-off set for 3:30 p.m. CST.
