Morehead State downs Eastern Kentucky 61-50 to sweep series

Anthony Elechi scored 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds and Morehead State beat Eastern Kentucky 61-50 on Thursday night to sweep the season series against the Colonels.

DeJuan Marrero scored 13 points, Malik Maitland added 11 off the bench for the Eagles (13-11, 7-5 Ohio Valley), who snapped a two-game losing streak.

Morehead made up for 38.3 percent shooting, including a 2-for-13 showing from long range, by making 13 of 16 free throws.

Nick Mayo led Eastern Kentucky (14-13, 5-7) with 15 points, Jaylen Babb-Harrison added 11 and JaVontae Hawkins had 10.

Morehead State led 24-18 at halftime behind Corban Collins’ eight points and pulled further ahead early in the second half on an 8-2 run in which Elechi scored four points.

Marrero capped a 9-1 run with a jumper and the Eagles led by 15, 53-38, with 3:05 left. The Colonels got no closer than 10 the rest of the way. Morehead State also beat Eastern Kentucky 70-67 on Jan. 30.

Morehead forced 25 turnovers Thursday and held the Colonels 30 points under their season scoring average.

“You can’t play defense on Eastern Kentucky any better than what we did tonight. I’m so proud of our guys because they were all locked in,” said Eagles Coach Sean Woods. “Our defense was relentless all night and on offense we created extra possessions. I also thought ... we dominated the backboards.”

Morehead held a 34-27 edge in rebounding to continue its dominance at Johnson Arena. The Eagles entered the game outrebounding opponents by 9.1 at home and 1.2 on the road.

The loss puts Eastern Kentucky in danger of missing the OVC Tournament. The top eight of the conference’s 12 teams participate, and the Colonels are tied for No. 8 after Thursday’s defeat.

Click here to view the box score.

Click here to view the OVC standings.

This story was originally published February 12, 2016 at 10:41 AM with the headline "Morehead State downs Eastern Kentucky 61-50 to sweep series."