MOREHEAD, Ky. – Ray'Sean Taylor, a Collinsville native, poured in a career-high 33 points as SIUE men's basketball opened its final regular season road trip with a convincing 82-60 win at Morehead State.
The win was the first for the Cougars in Morehead since the 2020-21 season and clinched the season sweep of Morehead for the first time ever.
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SIUE tied its program high for wins in the Division I era as it improved to 19-9 overall and 12-5 in the Ohio Valley Conference. The win coupled with a Little Rock loss moves SIUE into sole possession of second place in the OVC.
The win also was number 83 for Head Coach Brian Barone, moving him past Lennox Forrester for fifth all-time in wins at SIUE.
Taylor was 8-for-12 shooting overall and 5-7 from three-point range. He was 12-12 at the free throw line. It is the third 30-point game of his career. Taylor also moved into second place all time in scoring at SIUE and now has 1,849 career points, leaving him exactly 100 points shy of the all-time scoring mark.
The Eagles led briefly in the first half, when a Dionte Miles layup made it 8-6 with 15:39 to play before half. A Kyle Thomas jumper knotted the score at 8 and a Myles Thompson offensive rebound and tip-in made it 10-8 Cougars and they never trailed again.
Taylor's buzzer-beating three-pointer gave SIUE a five-point lead (35-30) at halftime. The Cougars then scored the first six points of the second half, to go up 41-30 and force a Morehead State timeout with 16:26 left in the game.
Morehead State got as close as seven points (52-45) after a free throw from Miles at the 10:44 mark, but a Ray'Sean Taylor three pushed the lead back out to double digits.
Thomas (12 points), Thompson (11) and Ring Malith (11) all finished in double digits for the Cougars.
SIUE connected on 26-50 (52 percent) of its shots, including 15-26 (58 percent) in the second half. The Cougars were 8-16 from three-point range and 20-24 (83 percent) at the foul line.
SIUE also scored 32 points inside.
Morehead State was 25-60 (42 percent) from the field overall, 4-19 from three-point range and 8-17 at the free throw line.
Jerone Morton scored 21 points to lead the Eagles.
SIUE continues its final regular season road trip with a Saturday night game at Southern Indiana. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
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