Men's Basketball bounces back, sweeps season series from Pomeroys

MIDWAY, Ky. -- Coming off a tough loss at IU Kokomo (Ind.) earlier in the week, the Midway men's basketball team looked to bounce back on Saturday (Feb. 11) when they welcomed St. Mary-of-the-Woods (Ind.) to Marshall Gymnasium.

The Eagles trailed late in the first half but would take a 32-26 lead into the locker room before cruising to the 71-55 bounce back victory.

With the win, Joe Krupinski's squad – which has won seven of their last nine – improves to 16-9 overall and 11-5 in River States Conference. St. Mary-of-the-Woods slips to 8-17 overall and 3-13 in league play with the loss.

Midway – who matches the program's best mark for wins in a season with the win – sprinted to an 8-0 lead to start the game after Donnie Miller (Newport, Ky.) sank a pair of triples and Tobias Thompson (Louisville, Ky.) flushed home a two-handed slam.

The Pomeroys were held scoreless until the 14:59 mark as they soon faced a double-digit deficit after Miller splashed home a jump shot and Dae'Shawn White (Newport, Ky.) hit a layup giving the home team a 14-4 lead with just over 13 minutes left in the half.

Midway's hot start soon subsided after they were held without a field goal for nearly 10 minutes. St. Mary-of-the-Woods took advantage of Midway's offensive woes as they went on a 16-1 run taking a 20-15 lead with seven and a half minutes to go before halftime.

Trailing 24-20, Rico Tate (Memphis, Tenn.) and Miller combined to score eight straight points for the Eagles as they closed the half on a 12-2 run before taking a 32-26 lead at intermission.

Tate hit a jumper to start the second half and Nick Keeton (Paintsville, Ky.) converted an 'and-one', while Miller nailed a triple sparking an 11-1 run that saw Midway extend their lead to 15, 43-28, with just over 14 minutes left.

Midway later went on a 6-0 run as their lead ballooned 49-33 at the 11:12 mark. The Pomeroys would cut the deficit to single digits, but the Eagles held a comfortable advantage throughout as they would lead by as many as 18 en route to the 16-point victory.

The Eagles had three players reach double figures with Donnie Miller leading the way. The junior guard hit 4-of-7 from downtown scoring 21 points and grabbing seven rebounds. Nick Keeton added 16 points and pulled down seven boards, while Rico Tate tossed in 10 points.

Tobias Thompson, meanwhile, was a force on both ends of the court as he carded seven points and six rebounds to go with a program best seven blocks in the win.

Midway is set to wrap up their two-game homestand on Thursday (Feb. 16) when they host IU Southeast (Ind.) for an RSC matchup. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET inside Marshall Gymnasium.

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