Eastern Kentucky on verge of postseason berth for first time in five years
After a five-year postseason absence, the Eastern Kentucky University men’s basketball team will be headed back to the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.
Five players scored in double figures as the Colonels knocked off Morehead State 78-71 on the road Thursday night. Only the top eight teams in the final OVC standings qualify for the conference tournament and EKU (13-13 overall, 10-3 OVC) is guaranteed to finish among that group.
Not only have the Colonels punched their ticket to the postseason, they’ve given themselves an opportunity to pave a favorable path to the OVC Tournament title and the automatic NCAA Tournament bid that would come with it. The top two seeds earn a double-bye in the league tournament while seeds No. 3 and No. 4 earn a first-round bye. The Colonels are tied for third in the league standings, one game behind Murray State and Austin Peay.
“We’ve put ourselves in position to talk about that now,” EKU Coach A.W. Hamilton said when asked about the chase for a top-four seed. “Really proud of these guys … these kids are tough. They’re tough and they love each other.”
Jomaru Brown led the charge against the Eagles, scoring 19 points and dishing out nine assists. The sophomore guard hit eight of 16 shots from the field and got a crucial bucket as part of a 7-0 run to put the Colonels ahead by 10 with just over two minutes to play.
Michael Moreno scored 12 points and grabbed five rebounds. The freshman from Scott County High School hit five of six shots from the field and knocked down a three-pointer from the corner to halt a 7-0 Morehead State run.
“Huge shot,” Hamilton said. “One thing you love about Michael, he’s not scared of any moment … This kid is a star. He’s just a freshman doing this.”
Moreno is now 16 of 22 from the field in EKU’s last three games. Tre King and Ty Taylor added 13 points apiece in the win. Tariq Balogun scored 10 points off the bench for the Colonels.
Tyzhaun Claude led Morehead State with 23 points on 11 of 14 shooting from the field. The Eagles won the rebounding battle 37-32, but couldn’t overcome the Colonels’ red-hot shooting. EKU went 32 of 58 from the field (55 percent).
Morehead State (12-14, 6-7) is currently alone in sixth place in the OVC standings. The Eagles are two games clear of ninth place with five games to play.
