Murray State
Austin Peay
Murray State Drops Tough Game At APSU
1/16/2007 6:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
The Murray State Racers ran out to a 17-point first half lead but couldn't hang on in a 68-59 loss at Austin Peay in
Having last played Jan. 8, the Racers certainly didn't look like a team coming off an eight-day break.
They jumped out to a good start on Tyler Holloway and Ray George three-point shots. George hit another three and Bruce Carter scored on a put back to put the Racers up by nine; Ed Horton's free throws at the 10:28 mark gave the Racers a 21-10 lead.
The Racers pushed their lead to 14 with 4:32 left when they broke Austin Peay's press twice. Holloway fed Curtis Parker for an easy two and scored on his own hitting a floating jumper down the lane for a 35-21 MSU lead.
The half kept getting better for the Racers as they continued to lock the Governors down on defense and held them to no field goals over a five-minute stretch.
Just when it looked like the Racers were going to run away with it, the Govs dug their heels in. Holloway's attempt for a 20-point lead rimmed out and APSU saw a chance to get back into the game. Todd Babington scored on the ensuing break to cut the lead to 15. A MSU turnover with 1:20 left led to two APSU free throws to cut the lead to 13. After Carter missed an open lay up, Landon Shipley drilled a three and suddenly the Racer lead was down to 40-30.
The Racers carried the same score into the half.
MSU shot 57 percent from the field, but went cold in the beginning of the second half. They misfired on their first five possessions and Austin Peay took their first lead on Derek Wright's lay up with 14:53 left. Austin Peay had gotten back into the game by outscoring the Racers 20-2 after MSU had built a 17-point lead in the first half.
MSU was down by three when George tied with an old fashioned three-point play: it was 51-51 with 8:34 remaining.
The Racers were in serious foul trouble in the second half. George fouled out with 4:46 left and Witherspoon and Carter were playing with four each. Shipley made the free throws when George was disqualified for a 60-58 Govs lead.
Carter fouled out with the Racers down 62-59 with 1:27 left. Shipley hit both for a five-point APSU lead.
Holloway missed from three-point range and Drake Reed scored on the other end and the Govs had a 66-59 lead with 35 seconds left.
They key to the 68-59 APSU victory can be found in the final five minutes. The Racers had no field goals and were outscored by the Govs 10-1.
GAME NOTES:
Tyler Holloway made it to the free throw line twice tonight and amazingly missed both. He is 30-34 (.882) on the season, and started the night the best in the OVC and seventh in the NCAA rankings.
Shawn Witherspoon's run to join the
MSU missed a chance to win consecutive games at the
The Racers return home to host Tennessee-Martin Saturday at the
