ESPN Men's Basketball

LOGAN, Utah -- Nate Bendall and Tai Wesley each scored 18 points to lead Utah State past Morehead State 79-72 Monday night.

Tyler Newbold also scored 15 for the Aggies (7-4). The win came in the opening round of the three-day Basketball Travelers Invitational, hosted by Utah State.

Morehead State (4-5) was led by Steve Peterson, who scored a career-high 16 points. Kenneth Faried added 14, and Terrance Hill and Demonte Harper each had 12.

After the Aggies extended to a 52-37 lead to open the second half, the Eagles went on a 14-4 run to bring the score to 56-51 with less than nine minutes to play.

Morehead State shot 20-of-30 from the field and 3-of-6 from the 3-point line in the second half. They eventually would close to 75-72 on a short jumper by Faried with 17 seconds to play.

But Utah State dropped in 4-of-4 free-throw attempts in the closing seconds.