MIDWAY, Ky. - Fresh off the second win of a ranked opponent in program history, the Midway men's basketball team took a step back Tuesday, as Kentucky Christian closed on a 24-9 run in a 70-63 upset at Marshall Gymnasium.

The Eagles, who scored 101 points in a Jan. 13 win at Kentucky Christian, came out very flat as they struggled against the zone defense of the Knights, who built an early 20-8 lead.

Midway appeared to have figured things out, rallying all the way back to take a 33-31 lead at the half, the go-ahead basket coming on a Maurice Washington Williams layup.

With a chance to clinch a spot in the River States Conference Tournament with a win, the Eagles looked to be in great shape with 11 minutes to play, as a fast-break dunk by Decoreio Smith stretched the lead to 54-46.

It was 57-51 Eagles when KCU found another gear on both ends. The Knights' final rally started when they scored three fast-break baskets in the span of 42 second to tie the game, then added two more layups to go ahead 61-57.

A Sam Parrish layup got the Eagles within 63-60 with 2:23 to go, but that was immediately answered by a Markell Hood 3-pointer that launched a 7-0 run to seal the upset.

The Eagles committed nine turnovers that led to 11 KCU points in the final 12:09.

Dontavius King was one of four Eagles in double figures with 14 points, while Washington Williams had a 10-point, 10-rebound double-double. 

Parris added 13 points while Amari Wales had 10 with four assists.

The loss drops Midway to 7-5 in RSC play and breaks a second-place tie in the East Division with Rio Grande, which improved to 8-4 with an 80-68 win over West Virginia Tech Tuesday.

The Eagles and Red Storm play in Rio Grande at 6 p.m. Thursday. Midway lost the first meeting between the two teams 71-64 on Dec. 2 and would fall behind two games for the No. 2 seed and lose the tie-breaker with a loss Thursday.

The top-two seeds in each division open the playoffs at home, while seeds three and four begin on the road.