Racers Take 66-54 Win At UTM - Final Game Before Christmas Break

Tuesday, December 21

Martin, Tenn.

7:00 p.m.

Murray State

UT Martin

Photo by: Tommy Dillard

Racers Take 66-54 Win At UTM - Final Game Before Christmas Break

12/21/2010 10:57:56 PM | Men's Basketball

Boxscore

Boxscore (PDF)

The Murray State Racers won their final game before the Christmas break in a 66-54 victory over UT Martin at the Elam Center in Martin, Tenn.

The Racers (8-4) and 2-1 in the Ohio Valley Conference moved their winning streak to four straight, but not without a fight from the Skyhawks.

Trailing in the second half, the Racers gained control of the game with a great stretch of defense in a 10-minute span starting when they fell behind 39-30 with 14:28 remaining.

The Racers made a run with three straight stops of UTM that turned into three fast-break finishes by Isacc Miles, Isaiah Canaan and Ed Daniel to retake the lead 48-45 with 9:10 remaining. When the dust cleared, MSU had a 20-6 run and led 50-45 with 8:23 left.

Jenkins sealed the win with a three-point basket with 1:30 left to put MSU in front 62-51.

MSU held the Skyhawks to only one field goal in the final 12:30 and won the second half 40-26 after trailing 28-26 at the break.

Ivan Aska led MSU with 14 points, while Canaan added 12 and MSU got 11 from Jenkins. Freshman Shawn Jackson came off the bench to score nine points for MSU.

MSU won the rebound battle 29-16 with 11 offensive rebounds.

In the first half, the Racers managed to jump to a 21-15 lead on a pair of dunks by Jackson and Aska with 7:15 before half.

However, UTM came back to tie the game 24-24 with 1:50 left.

MSU is now off until returning to the court Dec. 30 at home against SIU Edwardsville.

NOTES

The Racers now lead the all-time series with UTM 37-3 and have won the last four and 18 of the last 19. The next meeting between the two is at the CFSB Center Jan. 29. MSU has never lost at home to the Skyhawks going 20-0.

MSU won their final game before Christmas for the first time in the Billy Kennedy era. Previously, MSU had lost to Samford twice and to Wright State and WKU.

Billy Kennedy gets closer to two career milestones. He has 92 wins as the MSU head coach (in his fifth season) and 196 wins in 13 seasons as a head coach. His total also includes stops at Centenary and his alma mater Southeastern Louisiana.

The Racers have won four straight with wins over Chattanooga, Bethel, WKU and now UTM. MSU's next contest is at the CFSB Center Dec. 30 against future OVC member SIU Edwardsville. The Cougars will play a full schedule in the league in the 2011-12 season.

Two Racer players are on the 1000-Point Club watch. After his 14 points today, Ivan Aska has 798. Isacc Miles has 777 career points after scoring four today.

B.J. Jenkins came into the game the fifth-best free throw shooter in the nation and went 4-of-4 tonight. For the Season, Jenkins is 38-of-40 (.950).