By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

MACOMB, Ill. — Western Illinois was playing Morehead State on Thursday night with a chance to take the lead in the Ohio Valley Conference men’s basketball standings at the start of a four-game homestand to close the regular season.

Instead the Leathernecks, as they had against the two other teams surrounding them in the conference standings, failed to convert.

Western Illinois fell to 17-11 overall, 10-5 in the OVC. The Leathernecks are 1 ½ games behind leader Morehead State (21-8, 12-4) and one game behind UT-Martin and Little Rock. The Leathernecks have lost four conference home games, and three are to the teams above them in the standings.

“We’ve had three big moments at Western Hall this year — Little Rock, UT-Martin, and this one,” Western Illinois coach Chad Boudreau said. “And in all of them, we came out and played tentative. I’ve got to do something. I’ve got to change something in my approach. There’s something I’m doing in my approach. It’s on me.”

“We’ve got to figure it out,” said forward Jesiah West.

This game opened a four-game homestand for the Leathernecks, who need to finish in the top two to secure a bye into the semifinals of the OVC tournament, or third or fourth for a bye into the quarterfinals.

Boudreau wanted a title that now will take a lot of work, and a lot of help from others, to get.

“Every one of these games matter,” Boudreau said. “I had a hundred people tell me, ‘This is a big game.’ No. Every game at the end of the year is a big game for us. We put ourselves into position to win a conference championship, and every game is just as important as the last one. And we haven’t responded in those situations.”

Boudreau said the Leathernecks lacked energy, and it showed in the final rebounding margin. Western Illinois came into the game ranked in the top 10 in NCAA Division I play in rebounds and rebound margin, but were outrebounded 53-30.

“They played harder,” Boudreau said of Morehead State, which lost at home to Southern Indiana on Tuesday night. “Their energy was good. And they rode a bus to get here. They played two days ago. We’re rested, we’re healthy, there’s no reason for us to play like that.”

Morehead State had 23 second-chance points, compared to 12 for the Leathernecks.

“We got nothing out of offensive rebounds,” Boudreau said. “We would hit bodies, and stop. We would start (for the rebound), they would hit us, and we would stop.”

“They had more energy than us today,” West said. “They were more active than us today.”

The Leathernecks missed 12 of their first 13 shots as Morehead State built an early 14-3 lead.

“First couple of possessions, we got good looks, didn’t finish,” Boudreau said.

“We got the shots we were looking for in the first half,” West said. “Nothing was falling for us, everything was falling for them. I felt it took a little bit out of us, because we were like, ‘Damn, we’re playing defense and everything’s falling for them, and we can’t get anything.’”

Western Illinois trailed 39-24 19 seconds into the second half before starting to come back. The Leathernecks got to within 45-38 before the Eagles pulled away again. They went on a 16-1 run as Western Illinois went 8 ½ minutes without a field goal.

Morehead State’s largest lead was 24 points.

Riley Minix, who scored 18 of the Eagles’ 23 points in one stretch, finished with 30 points and 15 rebounds. Jordan Lathon had 25 points.

Ryan Myers led Western Illinois with 15 points. West had 12.

“Their best players stepped up,” Boudreau said. “Their best players were really good.”

Boudreau knows his team has a quick turnaround before Saturday’s game against Southern Indiana.

“I thought they came in with way more energy, way more effort,” he said. “And we’ve got to fix it.”

Photo: Western Illinois’ Drew Cisse (23) fights for a rebound in the second half. (Sarah Ritter/Western Illinois University)