Published: February 22, 2008 12:36 pm         

Buzzer-beater basket takes Eagles over EKU

Faried's put-back gives MSU 51-49 win and possession of third place in OVC

RICHMOND, Ky. - Freshman Kenneth Faried scored on tip-in basket with 1.8 seconds remaining, and the Morehead State Eagles took another step toward hosting a first-round Ohio Valley Conference Tournament game with a 51-49 win at Eastern Kentucky Wednesday evening.

MSU, now 14-12 overall and 11-7 in the conference, took sole possession of third place in league standings. The Eagles were led by Faried who scored a game-high 16 points and pulled down a game-high nine rebounds. Leon Buchanan had 12 points, Maze Stallworth had nine points and eight rebounds and Nikola Stojakovic handed out a game-high six assists.

  EKU, now 13-13 overall and 10-8 in the OVC, dropped to fifth place in the standings. The Colonels got 14 points from Adam Leonard and 12 points from Mike Rose.

"This was a huge win," said Eagle Coach Donnie Tyndall. "Morehead State and Eastern Kentucky are natural rivals. It was huge because of the implications it had on the OVC tournament. Both teams are battling for seeding and to host a first-round game.

"This was a great college basketball game with two teams competing hard in a great environment."

EKU scored the last five points of the first half to cut an eight-point MSU lead to three points, 24-21, at intermission. The Colonels then scored the first nine points of the second half to build their biggest lead of the game, 30-24, with 16:52 left in the contest.

A 9-0 MSU run that began at the 5:17 mark with the EKU leading 44-40, gave MSU at five-point lead, 49-44, with 2:11 remaining, and the Eagles never trailed. A Rose layup with 17 seconds remaining tied the score for the eighth and final time.

After one MSU timeout and three EKU timeouts, the Eagles got the ball inside to Buchanan who was double-teamed. He managed to get a jumper to the rim, setting the stage for Faried's rebound and game-winner.  

Austin Peay is atop the OVC standings with a 14-4 league mark. The Governors are the only team to have clinched one of four first-round home games in the eight-team OVC tournament. Murray State is in second place with a 12-6 record. MSU is in third place. UT Martin moves up to fourth place with an 11-8 mark. Following EKU, Samford and Tennessee State are both 9-9 in the conference and are tied for sixth place, but also still have a shot a hosting a game.



MSU will travel to James Madison on Saturday (Feb. 23) for a 2 p.m. EST ESPNU BracketBusters game. The Eagles will close out the regular season with home games against Tennessee State on Feb. 28 and Austin Peay on March 1. Both of those games will begin at 7:30 p.m. EST and will be a part of OVC doubleheaders.