Murray State
Southeast Missouri
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First Place Racers 10-0 In OVC After 80-61 Win At SEMO
1/24/2010 1:46:00 AM | Men's Basketball
The Murray State Racers notched their ninth straight victory in an 80-61 win over Southeast Missouri State at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau, Mo.
The win gives the first place Racers a perfect 10-0 start in the Ohio Valley Conference and it moves their overall mark to 18-3, their best start since the 1998-99 season.
After a slow beginning, which saw the Racers fall behind 24-17 with 8:57 remaining in the first half, MSU jumped back into the game with a 16-4 run to take a 33-28 lead with 3:50 to go. Tony Easley gave the Racers the lead for good when he slammed in a loose ball to make it 29-28 Racers.
MSU led 44-31 at half and pushed their lead to 60-39 with 13:00 left in the game.
SEMO never got any closer than 13 the rest of the way.
MSU had 11 different players make the scoring column led by Easley who poured in 17 points on 5-of-5 shooting to go with a 7-of-9 night from the free throw line. He also tallied a career-high six blocked shots.
Isacc Miles added 14 with 12 coming from Danero Thomas.
The Racers are the marked team right now in the OVC having won their last 17 regular season league games. MSU is getting everyone's best shot.
"We wanted to play better tonight than we did at Eastern Illinois Thursday," MSU head coach Billy Kennedy said. "Southeast did a good job of executing their offense in the first 10 minutes and give them credit for their effort."
"Tony was aggressive around the basket and he continues to improve," Kennedy said. "He blocked six shots, but what he did best was posting up and finishing."
GAME NOTES
The Racers now have a 17-game winning streak in OVC regular season games dating back to their last loss, which came Feb. 7, 2009 at Austin Peay by an 83-80 score. MSU finished last season winning their last seven and have added 10 more to start this season. MSU is chasing the 22 game streak that bridged the 1997-98 and 1998-99 seasons.
MSU is two wins from the programs' 23rd 20-win season. MSU's start to the season is the best since the 1998-99 squad started 19-2 and 13-0.
The Racers continue to be the only team in the 31 NCAA D-I conferences leading their league in both scoring offense and scoring defense.
The Racers' 10-0 OVC mark is the best among all NCAA D-I conferences.
MSU plays at home Wednesday against SIU Edwardsville in a 7 p.m. tip at the Regional Special Events Center.
