Published: March 07, 2008 12:31 pm         

Morehead State hoops teams knocked out of OVC tourney

Men

MOREHEAD, Ky. - The Morehead State men's basketball team posted a late run but fell short to Tennessee State 68-61 in the first round of the Ohio Valley Conference tournament Tuesday at Johnson Arena. Senior Jamyron Steward led the Eagles with 18 points, and fellow senior Nikola Stojakovic totaled 11 assists in their final appearances as Eagle athletes.

"Those two guys (Steward and Stojakovic) have been special young men for the past two years," said MSU coach Donnie Tyndall. "I'll miss those guys. They gave everything they had every day for two years. It's going to be very difficult to replace these two young men."

Morehead State finished the season with a 15-15 record and finished in third place in the OVC. The Tigers improved to 14-16 and move on to the OVC Tournament semifinals at Nashville's Municipal Auditorium Friday.

  Steward led the Eagles from behind the arc, hitting four of seven three-pointers against TSU, including a three-ball with 11:51 left in the game to pull the Eagles within two, 47-45.

 "Every time we got it within one, two or three, (Jerrell) Houston made tough shot after tough shot," said MSU head coach Donnie Tyndall. "I thought our effort level was fine and our energy level was fine, we just turned it over too much."

 MSU started a late run with 8:17 left in the game when sophomore Maze Stallworth nailed a layup to cut the TSU lead to 54-47. Stallworth then cut the deficit to three at the 7:38 mark when he hit two free throws.

 The Eagles committed 19 turnovers to the Tigers 16. TSU capitalized on the Eagle turnovers, scoring 22 points off turnovers. Bruce Price led the way for the Tigers with 22 points. Houston scored 16 and was 7-for-10 from the floor. Gerald Robinson posted 13 points, and LaDarious Weaver netted 11.

The Eagles also got double figure scoring games from freshman Kenneth Faried (14), junior Leon Buchanan (12) and Stallworth (10). Buchanan pulled down eight rebounds, and Faried had seven. The Eagles held a 27-24 lead on the glass.

"We have a good group of guys, they're hard workers and character young men," said Tyndall. "We've said it before, it's a building process and we certainly didn't want it to end tonight, but we're just in year two. It takes four or five years to really get your program in place."

Women

MURRAY, Ky. - Murray State scored the game's first seven points on its way to a 23-2 run to start the game as the Lady Racers beat Morehead State 87-61 Tuesday night at the Regional Special Event Center in the first round of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.

"We just didn't have an answer for them tonight," said MSU women's coach Mike MSU women's coach Mike Bradbury. "They (Murray State) jumped on us good to start the game and we couldn't never recover."

 Morehead State didn't score until the 17:49 mark of the first half on two free throws by Brandi Rayburn.

 The Eagles missed their first 10 shots from the field. MSU's first field goal was a 3-pointer by Philnisha Lindsey with 10:58 remaining in the first half.

 Murray State led 46-26 at the half.

 In the second half, Morehead State could get no closer than 20.

 "It wasn't a lack of effort. Our players were giving their all. Murray is just a more athletic team than we were," said Bradbury. "Tarah and Anitha did a great job this season in leading this team," said Bradbury of his two seniors. "They did whatever we asked of them and I really am going to miss them."

 Morehead State, which finished the season 11-19, was topped by Brittany Pittman with a career high 21 points. Senior Tarah Combs ended up with 14 while Brandi Rayburn chipped in with 12.

 Alania Lee was Murray State's leading scorer with 24 points.