Big Tech comeback misses at the buzzer at Morehead State

MOREHEAD, Ky. - Tennessee Tech nearly pulled off an improbable comeback Thursday night at Morehead State, but an off-balance 10-foot shot at the buzzer by Frank Davis on a rebound of his own intentionally missed free throw hit the front of the rim.

Morehead State (8-7/4-1 OVC), which saw it's 13-point lead evaporate in a 14-2 Tech run during the final five minutes, escaped with a 64-62 victory in Ohio Valley Conference play in MSU's Johnson Arena.

The Golden Eagles (8-6/2-2 OVC) trailed 57-44 with 5:25 remaining after Demonte Harper hit two free throws for Morehead State. Junior DJ Lindsay scored seven points in Tech's fight back into the contest, including a 3-pointer with 1:04 to play to make it 63-61.

Morehead State got one free throw by Robert Murray to make it a three-point game, 64-61, with 36 seconds left and the Eagles got the ball back on a missed shot by Tech with 22 seconds to play.

T he Golden Eagles pressured Kenneth Faried into a missed layup and Kevin Murphy grabbed the rebound for Tech, which called timeout with three seconds left.

On the inbounds play, Morehead State fouled Davis, putting him at the line for a one-and-one. The junior made the first to make it a two-point deficit, then tossed a perfect miss off the side of the iron.

Lindsay tipped the miss back out to Davis, who was twisted sideways, and tossed up a shot to beat the clock. It was short, and Lindsay grabbed the miss, but the horn sounded as he a tried to get off another shot from under the goal.

Foul trouble kept Faried, MSU's leading scorer, from reaching double figures but the big sophomore grabbed 16 rebounds and had four steals to go along with his eight points. Leon Buchanan led MSU with 22 points and had eight rebounds, while Demonte Harper added 18 points and seven rebounds.

MSU shot 41 percent for the game, limited by 10 percent (1-for-10) accuracy from long range. The Eagles were 13-for-18 at the free throw line for 72.2 percent.

Lindsay paced Tech with 20 points along with five rebounds and three assists. Alex Davis also hit double figures with 10, along with five rebounds and three blocked shots.

Tech shot 34.4 percent overall (22-for-64) and 31.6 percent (6-for-19) from long range. The Golden Eagles shot 12-for-19 at the free throw line for 63.2 percent.

Morehead State owned a 50-32 edge in rebounds.

Tech plays at Eastern Kentucky Saturday evening at 6 p.m.