Racers Win 6th Straight OVC Game 69-64 Over Morehead

Thursday, February 26

RSEC

8 p.m.

Murray State

Morehead State

2/26/2009 6:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball

The Murray State Racers pulled away in the second half and scored a 69-64 Ohio Valley Conference win over the Morehead State Eagles at the Regional Special Events Center Thursday in Murray, Ky.

The win pushed the Racers into a three-way tie for second place in the league at 12-5 with Morehead State and Austin Peay. With MSU hosts Eastern Kentucky Saturday at the RSEC and can still get a share of the league title with a win against the Colonels and a loss by UT Martin at home to the Eagles.

The win also clinched a home game Tuesday in the OVC Tournament quarterfinals for MSU at the RSEC.

First things first...the Racer win came after a typical night in the OVC. That is a classic battle going down to the wire before a winner was decided.

In the middle of the second half, MSU had the answer in Tony Easley, as the junior scored three straight dunks to give the Racers a 45-43 lead with 12:10 left.

After Morehead State cut the MSU lead to one, the Racers scored back-to-back baskets with Kevin Thomas involved in both. He hit a driving shot down the lane, then fed Ivan Aska for an easy two and MSU had a 53-48 lead with 7:44 remaining.

The Racers missed a chance for a seven-point lead in the next few seconds. Easley drew a charge with 7:36 left, but Aska's short jumper bounced off the rim leading to a Maze Stallworth three-pointer for the Eagles. MSU's lead was cut to 53-51.

The Eagles tied it at 53-53 at 6:12 on a jumper by Demonte Harper.

The Racers regained the lead for good on a Kevin Thomas free throw with 6:01 left, and pushed it to 58-53 at 3:30 on an Aska tip in and a Holloway spin move down the lane.

Isacc Miles scored a three-point play at 2:41 to keep the Racers in front by six at 61-55.

With 41 seconds left, Holloway hit a jumper for a six-point lead, but after a wild scramble for the loose ball in Morehead's end of the court, Harper buried a three with 27.8 left and MSU's lead was down to two at 66-64.

After a Jeffery McClain free throw, Morehead State's Harper eyed a three-pointer for the tie with 7.4 seconds left, but it bounced hard off the rim and went out of bounds to the Racers.

Miles made two free throws for the final of 69-64.

“It was a hard-fought game and Morehead played really well despite their foul troubles,” MSU Head Coach Billy Kennedy said. “We were fortunate to get the win, I liked our toughness and the way we finished.”

Morehead State's Kenneth Faried, the leading rebounder in the OVC, fouled out of the game with 6:01 left and finished well below his averages with four points and two rebounds.

MSU had a balanced scoring effort with 13 from Isacc Miles and 12 each from Danero Thomas and Tony Easley. Kevin Thomas added 11, while Tyler Holloway hit two big baskets in the final minutes for nine points.

MSU now gets ready to end the regular season at home Saturday against Eastern Kentucky.

“We're taking it one day and one game at a time,” Kennedy added. “We get a win Saturday and we could get a share of the league title and accomplish one of our season goals.”

GAME NOTES

Murray State only had three turnovers in the game, a season-best topping the eight they had in the season opener Nov.15 against Lyon College and Dec. 20 against South Florida.

The Racers have won six straight and nine of ten in league play.

MSU improved their record in the RSEC to 129-25 (.837) and 91-15 (.858) in OVC games in 11 seasons. MSU is 10-2 this season at home and 32-9 (.780) in the Billy Kennedy era.

MSU leads the all-time series with Morehead State 101-45 and are 56-14 in Murray, Ky.

The Racers now turn their attention to the final game of the regular season Saturday at 7:30 p.m. when they host Eastern Kentucky at the RSEC.

Saturday is MSU Senior Day when Tyler Holloway, Kevin Thomas, and Jarad Key play their final home regular season game for the Racers. Senior team manager Bryce Dylrmple will also be honored in the MSU class before the Racers host the Colonels.