Tennessee St. beats Morehead St. for OVC Tournament title, 1st NCAA Tournament berth since '94

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (AP) — Antoine Lorick III had 18 points to help Tennessee State beat Morehead State 93-67 on Saturday night to win the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament and clinch its first NCAA Tournament berth in more than three decades.

Tennessee State — under first-year coach Nolan Smith, who helped Duke win the 2010 national championship as a player — secured an invitation to the Big Dance for the first time since 1994.

Travis Harper II scored 17 points while shooting 6 for 9, including 5 for 7 from beyond the arc. Dante Harris went 6 of 20 from the field (4 for 8 from 3-point range) to finish with 16 points.

George Marshall led the way for the Eagles (19-12, 15-5) with 17 points. Davion Cunningham added 12 points and seven rebounds for Morehead State. Anouar Mellouk also had 12 points. The loss snapped the Eagles' six-game winning streak.

Tennessee State took the lead for good a little more than three minutes into the game and it was 55-34 at halftime, with Harris racking up 16 points. Tennessee State pulled away with a 12-2 run in the second half to extend an 18-point lead to 28 points. The Tigers outscored Morehead State by five points in the final half, as Lorick led the way with a team-high 13 second-half points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.