[DataKing]

SOUTHEAST MISSOURI STATE REDHAWKS (9-9, 9-2)

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MOREHEAD STATE EAGLES (10-8, 5-5)

Pryor Sets Career High, Eagles Defeat Conference-Leading Redhawks 86-73.

January 25th, 2007

MOREHEAD, KY - No Morehead State Eagle was happier to return home after last week's road trip than senior guard Quentin Pryor. Pryor's play had been miserable on the Alabama trip, including a horrendous 1-for-8 shooting night against Samford. But the home iron was kind to Pryor and the Eagles. In a game of alternating runs between the Eagles and the visiting Southeast Missouri State Redhawks, the Eupora, Mississippi native had a career-high 35 points in Morehead State's 86-73 victory.

The Eagles jumped out to an early 7-0 lead on the conference-leading Redhawks thanks to successful steals on two inbounds passes. Southeast Missouri got some offense going after that, and the deficit remained in the 6-9 point range until junior center Michael Rembert was tagged with his second personal foul at the 14:16 mark and had to sit for the remainder of the half. Quentin Pryor scored 7 on Morehead State's ensuing 12-2 run, and the lead bulged to 32-13. But the Redhawks answered with a 12-0 run of their own, trimming the lead back into the single digits at 32-25. Pryor didn't appear to be capable of missing for the rest of the half, but the Redhawks' offense held their own. Pryor had scored 22 by halftime, and the Eagles went to the break nursing a 47-38 lead.

The home team jumped out early again in the second half with an 11-2 run (including another 5 points from Pryor), and led 58-40 at the 17:39 mark. The game's frenetic pace began to take it's toll on the bigs from both teams. The Redhawks' Michael Rembert and freshman forward Herbert Terry each had three personal fouls before 4 minutes had expired in the half. At the 13:47 mark (by which time the Redhawks had mounted another retaliatory run, this one of the 10-0 variety) Eagles' sophomore center Clinton Reisz had serious trouble of his own with four fouls and had to sit. Despite missing their preferred big-man, Morehead State mounted yet another run and their lead bulged to 80-60 with only 7:12 to play. Southeast Missouri State got the lead down to single-digits, 80-71 with 2:48 to go, but could get no closer.

Scoreboard
Final - Johnson Arena                  1H     2H    Fin
-Southeast Missouri St (9-10, 9-3)     38     35     73
-Morehead State (11-8, 6-5)            47     39     86

Starters

Southeast Missouri St   Yr     Ht     Pos     Morehead State       Yr     Ht
Paul Paradoski          JR     6'0"    PG     Brandon Callahan     JR     6'0"
Terrick Willoughby      SR     6'4"    SG     Quentin Pryor        SR     6'4"
Brandon Foust           JR     6'6"    SF     Jamyron Steward      JR     6'3"
Herbert Terry           FR     6'7"    PF     Shaun Williams       SR     6'6"
Michael Rembert         JR     6'9"     C     Clinton Reisz        SO     6'10" 

Team Statistics

 Southeast Missouri St                                     Morehead State
          73               Points                                86
          26               Field Goals Made                      29
          54               Field Goals Attempted                 54
        0.481              Field Goal %                        0.537
           2               3 Pointers Made                        7
          14               3 Pointers Attempted                  19
        0.143              3 Pointers %                        0.368
          19               Free Throws Made                      21
          21               Free Throws Attempted                 26
        0.905              Free Throw %                        0.808
          12               Assists                               21
          15               Turnovers                             12
          16               Team Fouls                            12
          24               Total Rebounds                        25
           4               Offensive Rebounds                     3
          20               Defensive Rebounds                    22
          11               Steals                                14
           2               Blocks                                 2
          32               Points in the Paint                   28
          24               Bench Points                          17
           4               Second Chance Points                   0
          16               Fast Break Points                     14

Morehead State Player Statistics

Name                            Pts   Reb   Ast   Stl   Blk   TO   PF   Min
Quentin Pryor                    35     1     3     1     0    1    1    33
Shaun Williams                   16     3     2     1     0    2    1    33
Brandon Callahan                 14     2    13     4     0    2    1    33
Cordaryl Ballard                  9     1     0     0     0    0    1    13
Dan Penick                        5     0     0     0     0    0    0    10
Clinton Reisz                     4     9     0     1     2    1    4    22
Vincent Crutcher                  2     1     1     2     0    0    0    15
Andreas Coleman                   1     5     0     0     0    2    1    16
Jamyron Steward                   0     2     2     2     0    2    3    20
Bill Davis                        0     1     0     0     0    0    0     2
Nikola Stojakovic                 0     0     0     3     0    1    0     8
Chase Denson                      0     0     0     0     0    0    0     2

Coach's Notes

• Obviously Quentin Pryor was in "unstoppable" mode tonight, shooting a crazy 12-of-14 from the field (including 6-of-7 from 3-point range). It's nice to see one of our seniors step up.
• After a number of inconsistent and foul-riddled performances, Shaun Williams has been giving us nice, steady point production (usually in the 9-13 range) lately and has been keeping his nose clean.
• Brandon Callahan deserves a lot of credit for tonight's performance, with his first double-double of the season (an unconventional one to boot - 14 points and a whopping 13 assists).
• It's uncanny how many back-and-forth runs both teams had in this game. Just when I figured we'd nailed the coffin shut, the Redhawks would come roaring back and make it a close enough game to keep me nervous.