[DataKing]

EASTERN KENTUCKY COLONELS (5-13, 4-8)

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MOREHEAD STATE EAGLES (11-10, 6-7)

Just What the Doctor Ordered. Morehead State Dominates Weak Eastern Kentucky Team, 61-47.

February 1st, 2007

MOREHEAD, KY - The Morehead State Eagles came into Thursday night's game desperate for a win after having lost four of their last five games. Fortunately for them, a weak Eastern Kentucky team came calling. The Colonels were made even weaker due to missing their starting point guard, Adam Leonard, thanks to a high ankle sprain. Coach King ran a surprisingly slow-paced game and chose to start freshman Vincent Crutcher instead of struggling junior Jamyron Steward, but the buttons King pushed seemed to be the right ones. While not very flashy, Morehead State won the game in convincing manner, and were especially dominant early in the second half. Senior forward Shaun Williams led all scorers with 17 points.

"Time's getting short for me and Q[uentin Pryor]," stated Williams after the game, "we don't have much time left on the court, in front of the fans. Coach [King] reminded us of that right before the game. It definitely helped us get some perspective." Williams and Pryor are the only two seniors on the relatively young Eagles squad. Only six games remain in Morehead State's regular season, and only two of those games will be at Johnson Arena.

The first 11 minutes of the game were a back-and-forth affair, with neither team able to pull away from the other. Williams was strong early for the Eagles, and sophomore guard Mike Rose hit a pair of early 3-pointers for the Colonels, as neither team could stretch a lead to more than 4 points. Morehead State suffered a blow at the 9:02 mark when junior point guard Brandon Callahan left the game due to foul trouble. But despite the loss, the Eagles went on a 15-2 run that gave them a 29-19 lead with 2:59 to go until halftime. Junior Ryan Wiersma and Eastern Kentucky responded, scoring the last six points of the half, shaving the lead down to 29-25.

Morehead State games have been characterized lately by second half collapses, but that was not the case this time. Quite the opposite, the Eagles came out on fire, opening the half with suffocating half-court defense that led to a 17-3 run lasting for the first 8 minutes of the half. Shaun Williams in particular was dominatant during this portion of the game, scoring 9 of his 17 points during this period. Eastern Kentucky countered as best they could, going on a 9-2 run of their own, but a 49-37 deficit with 9:46 to play was as close as the Colonels would get. The Eagles' defense clamped down for the remainder of the game, earning the victory and pushing their conference record back up to the .500 mark.

Scoreboard
Final - Johnson Arena               1H     2H    Fin
-Eastern Kentucky (5-14, 4-9)       25     22     47
-Morehead State (12-10, 7-7)        29     32     61

Starters

Eastern Kentucky        Yr     Ht     Pos     Morehead State       Yr     Ht
Ryan Dillman            FR     6'0"    PG     Brandon Callahan     JR     6'0"
Mike Rose               SO     6'4"    SG     Quentin Pryor        SR     6'4"
Julian Mascoll          SR     6'4"    SF     Vincent Crutcher     FR     6'4"
Jamaal Douglas          JR     6'7"    PF     Shaun Williams       SR     6'6"
Ryan Wiersma            JR     6'6"     C     Clinton Reisz        SO     6'10"

Team Statistics

 Eastern Kentucky                                        Morehead State
        47               Points                                61
        18               Field Goals Made                      21
        49               Field Goals Attempted                 54
      0.367              Field Goal %                        0.389
         3               3 Pointers Made                        2
        17               3 Pointers Attempted                  16
      0.176              3 Pointers %                        0.125
         8               Free Throws Made                      17
        12               Free Throws Attempted                 20
      0.667              Free Throw %                        0.850
         7               Assists                                7
         9               Turnovers                             10
        12               Team Fouls                            11
        23               Total Rebounds                        40
         6               Offensive Rebounds                    14
        17               Defensive Rebounds                    26
         8               Steals                                 7
         2               Blocks                                 1
        22               Points in the Paint                   26
         2               Bench Points                          14
         4               Second Chance Points                  14
         6               Fast Break Points                     10

Morehead State Player Statistics

Name                            Pts   Reb   Ast   Stl   Blk   TO   PF   Min
Shaun Williams                   17     7     0     1     1    1    3    31
Brandon Callahan                 11     1     3     0     0    0    3    28
Quentin Pryor                    10     1     3     3     0    1    1    31
Vincent Crutcher                  8     3     0     0     0    2    2    20
Andreas Coleman                   4     6     0     1     0    1    0    10
Jamyron Steward                   4     1     0     0     0    0    0    21
Dan Penick                        2     2     0     0     0    1    0    14
Nikola Stojakovic                 2     0     1     0     0    2    0    13
Cordaryl Ballard                  2     0     0     0     0    0    0    10
Clinton Reisz                     1    19     0     2     0    0    2    27

Coach's Notes

• Clinton Reisz earns the "most lopsided line of the year" award with his performance today. Apparently he wasn't in a shooting mood (0-for-2 from the field) but went absolutely berserk on the glass, using his height advantage to nab a career-best 19 rebounds!
• Giving Crutch a start seems to be just what he needed. His 8 points and 3 boards was his best individual performance since December. I'm still looking for consistent production at the 3-spot between him and Jam Steward.
• He doesn't get much press, but Andreas Coleman deserves some credit today. He gave us 10 very solid minutes out there, and tied his season-best rebound total of six.
• The last thing I want is for this team to be is predicable, so we switched things up and hardly used any press at all. We never trapped and didn't press once during the second half. I'm not sure how much of a difference it made, but I want to be as difficult as possible to game-plan for, especially with the conference tourney just a few weeks away.