Williford, McFarland pace SIU-Edwardsville past Morehead St.

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. (AP) — Tyresse Williford scored 23 points, sinking 10 of 13 free throw attempts, David McFarland scored 18 and SIU-Edwardsville defeated Morehead State 83-76 Thursday night, overcoming a 14-point deficit.

Brandon Jackson scored 13 for SIU-Edwardsville (7-14, 3-6 Ohio Valley Conference), which has won two of its last three games.

Jordan Walker paced Morehead State (8-14, 4-5) with 22 points, six rebounds and four assists, De'Von Cooper added 14 points and James Baker 10.

A Walker 3-pointer gave Morehead State a 14-12 lead with 14 minutes left in the first half, and AJ Hicks stole the ball and drained a 3 pushing the lead to 34-18 nine minutes later.

The Cougars cut that down to 40-32 by halftime and caught up, 53-all midway through the second half. McFarland and Treavon Martin made back-to-back shots that pushed SIUE into a 66-63 lead and the Eagles could never catch up in the last seven minutes.

Williford made four free throws and McFarland two in the last 18 seconds to keep Morehead State at bay.