Morehead St. advances to semis of OVC tournament

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Karam Mashour scored 10 of his 25 points in the first nine minutes and 13 in the final eight as fifth-seeded Morehead State upset cold-shooting No. 4 seed Tennessee-Martin, 76-65 in an Ohio Valley Conference quarterfinal Thursday night.

Angelo Warner led the Eagles with 27 points on 10-of-16 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds, but it was Mashour who carried the team to the finish line.

Marshun Newell converted a three-point play with 8:25 left to pull the Skyhawks within five, 54-49, but Mashour answered with a three-point play of his own and sparked an 8-0 run to take control.

Morehead State (10-6), winners of 10 of its last 13 games, now plays top-seeded Murray State in a semifinal tonight.

UT Martin (10-6) struggled from the field, converting 20 of 54 (37 percent).

Belmont 97, Eastern Illinois 64

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Craig Bradshaw made five 3-pointers on his way to 23 points and third-seeded Belmont overwhelmed sixth-seeded Eastern Illinois in the quarterfinals of the OVC tournamentt.

Belmont (20-10) will take on No. 2 seed Eastern Kentucky tonight.

Evan Bradds and Nick Smith, the latter with four 3-pointers, scored 14 points each for Belmont.

Reggie Smith scored 17 points, Trae Anderson 13 and Cornell Johnston 11 for the Panthers (17-14).

-- From wire reports