Midway Men's Basketball hangs on for wire-to-wire victory over Alice Lloyd

MIDWAY, Ky. -- After picking up a tough win over West Virginia Tech earlier in the week, the Midway men's basketball team made it two straight victories on Saturday (Jan. 28) when they welcomed Alice Lloyd (Ky.) to Marshall Gymnasium for a River States Conference matchup.

Midway would take a 43-28 lead into the locker room, but saw the visitors cut the deficit to one in the second half. The home team, however, never relinquished the lead as they held on for the 80-76 victory.

With the win, Joe Krupinski's squad improves to 13-8 overall and 8-4 in league play, while Alice Lloyd slips to 11-11 overall and 5-7 in conference action.

The Eagles couldn't have asked for a better start as they shot 51.5 percent from the floor in the opening half. They also hit 5-of-9 from downtown for 55.6 percent.

Donnie Miller (Newport, Ky.) and Nick Keeton (Paintsville, Ky.) helped fuel an 11-2 run to start the game as Alice Lloyd burned their first timeout of the contest less than four minutes in. Back-to-back buckets by Keeton and Tobias Thompson (Louisville, Ky.) then extended the run to 15-2.

Alice Lloyd rallied and cut the deficit to five, 21-16, at the 9:32 mark, but Dae'Shawn White (Newport, Ky.) quieted the rally draining back-to-back 3's to help push the lead back to 31-18.

Midway again saw their lead dwindle to seven with just over three minutes left, but they would close the half on an 8-0 run after holding the visitors scoreless for the final three plus minutes.

Following a pair of free throws by Miller, Donovan Morris (Lexington, Ky.) drained a trey before Will VanHook (West Palm Beach, Fla.) capped the run after draining a long three-pointer as the halftime buzzer sounded giving his team a 43-28 lead heading into the locker room.

After a hot shooting first half, Midway didn't score for the opening four minutes of the second. Alice Lloyd would use a 12-3 run to cut the deficit to one, 60-59, with 5:55 left.

Thompson answered with a tip-in before White connected with a triple extending Midway's lead back to 67-61. Alice Lloyd once again cut the deficit to two, but Rico Tate (Memphis, Tenn.) drained a long three as the shot clock expired. Midway would go on to hit 6-of-6 from the charity stripe in the final minute to close out the 80-76 victory.

Four players reached double figures led by the duo of Keeton and Miller who scored 18 points apiece. Keeton also grabbed seven rebounds and blocked three shots, while Thompson turned in a big game with 12 points, nine rebounds, and six blocked shots. White, meanwhile, provided a spark off the bench with 15 points hitting 3-of-3 from three and 4-of-5 from the floor.

Midway will now hit the road for an important RSC West Division matchup against Oakland City (Ind.) on Tuesday (Jan. 31). Tipoff is set for 8:30 p.m. ET in Oakland City, Indiana.

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