Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
Tennessee State (Semi-Finals) (ESPNU)
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Racers Fall in Semi-Finals to Tennessee State
3/7/2008 6:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Ray George scored a career-high 25 points and Danero Thomas added 21, but it was not enough as Murray State came up on the short end of an 83-75 decision to Tennessee State Friday evening in the semifinal game of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament at the Nashville Municipal Auditorium.
The loss dropped the Racers to 18-13 and brought about the end of the careers for George and Bruce Carter.
The Racers came out of the locker room at halftime and needed just over six minutes to turn a seven-point deficit into a one-point lead as Carter converted a layup inside to give MSU its first lead of the game at 46-45.
TSU would battle back to take a three-point lead before George would score four-straight points and Kevin Thomas would hit a pair of free throws to give MSU a 56-53 advantage with 8:56 showing on the second-half clock.
The lead would not last as Bruce Price scored four points in the Tigers 9-0 run that pushed TSU ahead for good.
With the lead growing to nine points on three different occasions, MSU finally made a run with just over a minute remaining. Danero Thomas hit a three to pull the team within four and George followed a pair of Tiger free throws with a three of his own to pull the Racers to 78-75 with a half minute remaining.
TSU would not let the game get any closer as they converted their free throws down the stretch and the Racers could not hit their shots from the outside.
The Racers got off to a slow start as got three-pointers from Gerald Robinson and Moraye Ivy to open up an 8-3 advantage just over three-and-a-half minutes into the contest. MSU was able to battle back as Danero Thomas hit a shot inside and followed it up with an old-fashioned three-point play. After a stop on the defensive end, Bruce Carter nailed a three from the top of the key to trim the deficit to 13-11 at the 12:42 mark.
TSU continued to hit from outside the arc and grabbed key offensive rebounds in going on a 12-5 run to open up a 25-16 advantage at the eight-minute media timeout.
Coming out of the timeout, MSU got back into the game by scoring the next five points, but TSU answered by scoring the next five to push the advantage back to nine points.
The Racers would only get as close as four points in the first half on a Thomas layup before going to the half trailing 35-28.
Carter was the third Racer to reach double figures as he scored 13 points. George, Carter and Marvin Williams each pulled down a team-best five rebounds, while Kevin Thomas handed out eight assists.
The Tiger charge was led by Price who poured in 20 points and added eight helpers. Robinson added 12 points and James Craft 10.
