Murray State
Eastern Kentucky
MSU Falls 72-66 In OT At EKU
12/7/2006 6:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
The Murray State Racers battled Eastern Kentucky into overtime before falling Thursday 72-66 at McBrayer Arena in
The Racers came out with the hot hand and hit six of their first 11 shots and grabbed a seven point lead when Shawn Witherspoon hit a three-pointer with 5:30 gone in the game.
Tyler Holloway had a very active first half in hitting three of six three-pointers and gave MSU a 26-19 lead with 4:20 before half. He hit another at the 3:11 mark and the Racers had their biggest lead of 12 at the 3:11 mark.
With less than 15 seconds left in the half, the Racers scored when Ed Horton hit Tony Easley with a no-look pass for a slam dunk.
MSU carried a 33-23 lead into the half.
As well as the Racers played on offense (they were 14-25 for 56 percent from the field and 5-13 from three-point range for 38 percent) the Racers defense turned in their best half of the season. The Racers held EKU to six field goals and none in the final 11 minutes of the half. The Colonels were 6-18 from the field for 33 percent.
The second half started with an EKU run that cut the MSU lead to one with 13:00 left in the contest.
The Racers managed to hold off the Colonels with a three-pointer from Witherspoon and another jumper on an assist from Dwayne Paul for a 48-44 lead with 8:22 left.
The Colonels made it a five point lead on a Julian Mascoll jumper with 5:19 left. After trailing by 12 with 17:29 in the game, the Colonels had outscored the Racers 20-10.
MSU clawed back to within one with 11 seconds left when Bruce Carter hit a jumper from 15 feet to give MSU a 56-55 lead. After an EKU miss, Holloway was fouled and made both free throws for a 58-55 MSU lead with 3.3 left. EKU's Mike Rose hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to force the game into overtime.
EKU grabbed a five point lead in the extra time 65-60, but the Racers still had a chance when Carter made another tough basket with 2:14 left to cut the Colonels lead to one.
Witherspoon's three-pointer for the lead with 1:18 left rimmed out and the Racers could not get anything going the rest of way and lost a tough to take 72-66 final.
The Racers now prepare for a Saturday game at
