MOREHEAD, Ky. - Though just an exhibition, the Midway men's basketball team narrowly missed out on what would have been a historic victory Monday night.

The Eagles held a 12-point halftime lead and were still ahead with under two minutes to play, but NCAA Division-I Morehead State shot 73 percent in the second half and used a huge free throw advantage to eek out an 89-84 win at Ellis T. Johnson Arena.

A back-and-forth first half turned towards Midway late when an Amari Wales 3-pointer gave the visiting Eagles a 29-26 lead. That paved the way for a 9-0 run to close the opening 20 minutes, with a Wales layup making it 44-32 at the break.

The lead would stretch to 59-45 on another Wales jumper before the hometown Eagles finally hit their strides, proceeding to score on their next 14 possessions, making 11 consecutive field goals in the process.

The last points of that scoring run, two free throws by Jon Carroll, pur Morehead ahead 74-72.

Midway was able to answer back, though, as a Wales 3-pointer and Decoreio Smith jumper put their team back up 77-74 with under five minutes to play.

Smith and Wales scored 26 and 24 points respectively while going 21-of-32 (66 percent) from the field, and it would be Smith who gave Midway its final lead of the night, slashing to the basket for a fastbreak layup to make it 81-79 with 1:59 to go.

The lead would remain for just 12 seconds, as Davion Cunningham tied the score at 83 on the ensuing possession.

Midway would then turn the ball over twice in a row, which led to five MSU points, the dagger coming via a George Marshall 3-pointer to make it 86-81 with just 15 seconds left.

While Morehead's hot shooting from the field played a big role, the game was ultimately decided at the foul line. MSU was 16-of-25 from the foul line, while Midway was just 1-of-2.

Wales also had a team-high five assists, with Smith and Sarvell Barksdale both recording four.

Maurice Washington Williams had a great night as well, putting up 14 points and eight rebounds while shooting 7-of-9 from the field. 

Despite the disappointing end, Monday was by far Midway's best ever showing against a D-I program.

Going into the night, the Eagles were 0-16 in such games, losing by an average of 37.9 points. Each previous game was decided by at least 12 points and all but two were by 20 or more.

The Eagles will get another chance at an in-state, D-I upset on Thursday, when they travel to Richmond to face Eastern Kentucky at 8 p.m. That game will also count as an exhibition for 2-1 Midway.