Murray State
UT Martin
MSU Drops 75-71 Heartbreaker At UTM
1/5/2009 6:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
The Murray State Racers dropped a 75-71 Ohio Valley Conference game to UT Martin Monday night at the
MSU fell to 1-2 in league play and 6-7 overall and snapped a 15-game winning streak against UTM and a seven-game streak at the
The game was a battle from the start and MSU Head Coach Billy Kennedy knew his team had the chance to beat an inspired opponent on their home floor.
“It was a good game, you've got to give UTM credit,” Kennedy said. “They got good play from their bench and we missed some free throws and that was the difference.”
Indeed, the Racers who entered the contest ranked fifth nationally in free throw shooting managed to only hit 10-of-20 from the line while UTM was 17-of-22.
“We're playing hard, we're playing well,” Kennedy said. “But we're coming up short.”
MSU's Kevin Thomas led the way with 21 points as the scrappy Racers battled back after trailing 35-31 at the half.
The Racers battled back to take their first lead since 13:57 in the first half when Ivan Aska slammed home a rebound for a 37-36 MSU lead with 15:47 left in the game.
Marquis Weddle answered with a three for UTM, but Aska came back and scored to tie the game at 39-39 at 15:19.
Again the Racers made a push with an 8-0 run to take the lead back at 67-65 with 3:43 left. Kevin Thomas drilled a three-pointer, and then MSU got another one from Tyler Holloway....remarkable, because up to that point, the Racers were only 1-of-11 for the game from the three-point line.
Holloway hit a long jumper with his foot on the three-point line for a 66-65 MSU lead at 3:43, but it was the last lead the Racers would have.
UTM came back and claimed the lead for good with two free throws from Reuben Clayton and added a jumper from Djero Riedewald for a 69-66 lead with 2:06 left.
Danero Thomas scored with 35.5 left, but was called for an offensive foul which put him out of the game with five personal fouls and the basket was taken away.
Isacc Miles hit a three with 2.3 seconds left to cut it to two, but UTM sealed the 75-71 final with two free throws.
Kevin Thomas led the way for MSU with 21 points, while Isacc Miles scored 18 and MSU got 10 each from Jeffery McClain and Tyler Holloway.
The Racers return to the
In the first half, MSU grabbed an early 14-12 lead when Jeffery McClain made a nice spin move in the lane at the 13:57 mark of the opening half.
The Skyhawks responded with a 13-2 run to take a 25-16 lead at 9:15.
Ivan Aska broke a 3:31 scoreless streak for MSU with a hoop at 8:26, but the Racers were down by seven with 8:26 left in the half.
The Racers used a 6-0 run of their own to make it a 29-24 game at 5:26. Kevin Thomas and Isacc Miles each made baskets during the MSU run.
After trailing by eight with 1:50 left, MSU closed the half with fast break hoops by Kevin Thomas and Miles to cut the Skyhawks lead at intermission to 35-31.
