Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
Eastern Kentucky
Bruce Carter's 17 Paces MSU In Heartstopper Against EKU
12/5/2007 6:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
The Murray State Racers hosted the Eastern Kentucky Colonels in the Ohio Valley Conference opener for each team Wednesday at the
The turning point came at the 4:23 mark of the second half when
Tyler Holloway was fouled and made both free throws to put the MSU lead back to four, but Dialls made his own two free throws with 42 seconds left and again it was a two point game at 58-56.
With 11.2 seconds left, Holloway missed a three. EKU grabbed the rebound and found an open Mike Rose who drained a three with 3.9 left for a 59-58 Colonels lead. It was only Rose's second basket of the game.
The Racers called timeout, got the ball to the front court and called another timeout with 1.8 left.
Holloway's try from three-point range at the buzzer was long and the Colonels escaped with a 59-58 win.
"I'm disappointed that we didn't finish on the defensive end,”
Indeed, the Racers were outscored 18-6 in the final 4:32 and didn't hit a field goal after an Easley basket with 5:23 left.
“All we were missing was the big stop,” Kennedy said. “We're not mature or tough enough to overcome adversity. Toughness and big stops win special games and right now we're not there.”
For most of the game, the Racers had their way.
MSU fell behind 20-15 at the 10:45 mark of the first half, and then rallied with a 6-0 run to grab a 21-20 lead when Kevin Thomas hit a pair of free throws with 4:33 left in the half.
The Racers trailed by a point with only seconds remaining when Marvin Williams made a back-court steal. His shot in the paint missed, but Bruce Carter was there for the rebound and score at the buzzer to give
Carter started the second half with three straight three pointers and the Racers had their largest lead of the game at 34-26. The Racers finished off an 11-2 run when Kevin Thomas fed Tony Easley. The sophomore center was fouled and hit both free throws for a 36-26 MSU lead with 17:38 left.
EKU cut the lead to six, but a Tarod Sanders drive put the Racers in front again by 10 points, 44-34 with 11:34 left.
MSU's lead grew to 47-34 when freshman Jewaun Long made a mid-court steal and dunked with 10:42 remaining.
Carter was the Racers only double-digit scorer with his season-high 17 points on 7-10 shooting. His three three-point baskets tied his career best. Easley added eight points, while Kevin Thomas had seven.
Darnell Dialls led EKU with 20 points, Leonard had 13.
The Racers are back at home Saturday at 7:30 p.m. when they face the Morehead State Eagles at the RSEC.
