ESPN Men's Basketball

MONROE, La. -- Marcos Knight scored 17 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead Middle Tennessee to a 66-57 win over Louisiana-Monroe on Saturday.

Bruce Massey finished with 12 points, making all eight of his free throw attempts for the Blue Raiders (14-4, 6-1 Sun Belt Conference), who have won three consecutive games. JT Sulton had 10 rebounds.

Middle Tennessee went into halftime with a 34-19 lead. Louisiana-Monroe cut the Blue Raiders' deficit to two points when Amos Olatayo scored on a layup with 11:14 left in the second half.

But the Warhawks (3-10, 2-5) were unable to pull closer. Middle Tennessee answered with a 7-0 run to push its lead to nine points with 8:49 left and built enough cushion the rest of the way for the victory.

The Blue Raiders, who never trailed, outrebounded Louisiana-Monroe 40-22.

Olatayo finished with 24 points for the Warhawks, who has lost two straight.