The UTM men’s basketball saw their Ohio Valley Conference Tournament dreams dashed after they fell to the Morehead State Eagles 76-65 on Thursday Night.
In the only regular season meeting between the two schools, the Skyhawks picked up the 75-72 victory in overtime at the Elam Center. UTM had success offensively with four different Skyhawk players finishing with double-digit points while the Morehead State’s leading scorer, senior guard Angelo Warner, finished with 15 points.
That wasn’t the case for Warner tonight as he led his Eagle team with 27 points and eight rebounds. Morehead State also shot well as a team completing 51 percent (27-52) of their shots in the game
The Skyhawks fought toe-to-toe with Morehead State in the opening minutes before the Eagles managed to put together a sizable run midway through the first half. From there, Morehead State never looked back, eventually expanding their lead to 16 points. A few small runs helped trim the Eagles’ lead to single-digits, but UTM could not muster enough of a run to catch up with and overtake the Eagles.
“My hat’s off to Morehead, I thought they played really well,” said UTM head coach Heath Schroyer. “We never were able to get into a rhythm, they sped us up and we just never were able to play in a flow that we needed to play in and be successful.”
UTM struggled offensively, shooting only 37 percent (20-54) as a team and 36 percent (9-25) from behind the arc. Morehead State also forced UTM to commit 16 turnovers, including 10 steals. Junior guard Alex Anderson led the Skyhawks with a career high 23 points and shot 6-9 from 3-point range.
After the game, Morehead State head coach Sean Woods had this to say about Coach Schroyer and the new-look Skyhawks.
“For his first year being in the OVC and really establishing a presence in his first year. They had a great year, they weren’t very big but they were scrappy, and I thought he maximized everything that he had. They’re going to be a team to recon with.”
With the loss, the Skyhawks finish the season with an overall record of 18-12 and 10-7 in OVC play. However, the hopes of a postseason tournament like the CBI or CIT are still high for the Skyhawks.
“For these seniors and this program to be able to play in a postseason tournament would be a huge accomplishment,” said Schroyer.
