Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
Morehead State
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Racers Snap 17-Game Win Streak at Morehead State 70-65
2/25/2010 11:55:00 PM | Men's Basketball
The Murray State Racers saw their 17-game win streak come to an end Thursday with a 70-65 loss to the Morehead State Eagles at Johnson Arena in Morehead, Ky.
The Racers' win streak was the longest in the nation with Butler University, and Murray State (26-4, 16-1) also saw their 23-game Ohio Valley Conference regular season win streak snapped at 23, two shy of the record.
"Maybe (the win streak) was in our minds," Racer head coach Billy Kennedy said. "It's human nature, but the biggest significance from tonight is that we didn't play well and Morehead did."
Starting the second half trailing 28-25, the Racers fell behind by 11 at the 15:17 mark of the second half which signaled an uphill battle for the Racers who entered the game 16-0 having clinched the OVC league regular season championship.
The determined Murray State squad kept chipping away and cut the Morehead State lead to 61-57 on a three-pointer by Isacc Miles with 4:14 remaining.
The Racers had three chances to take the lead, but each time came away empty. Miles, Jeffery McClain and Isaiah Canaan each had shots for the lead, however MSU did tie the game at 62 on a pair of free throws from Miles with 1:14 left.
Morehead State's Terrance Hill hit a three from the corner just before the shot clock expired to give the Eagles the lead for good 65-62 with 39 seconds to go.
Danero Thomas has a three for the tie with one second left, but his shot was blocked and the Racers' tasted defeat for the first time since a Dec. 22 loss at WKU.
"We'll learn from this," Kennedy said. "It is almost tournament time and we're looking at these games as tournament-type games before the real thing begins Tuesday."
Miles led the Racers with 18 points on 4-of-8 shooting, including 7-of-8 from the line to go with four assists.
Danero Thomas was the second MSU player in double-figures with 15.
The Racers play the regular season finale Saturday at Eastern Kentucky in a 6 p.m. central time tip. The game can be seen with the pre-game show at 5:45 p.m. on the Racer Television Network.
GAME NOTES
Some impressive streaks ended with MSU's loss to the Eagles. The 17-game overall win streak is in the MSU record book as the best in the program's 85 years, which bested the former streak of 16 set twice in the 1930's under the Racers' first head coach Carlisle Cutchin. MSU's 23 straight OVC regular season wins is the second-best all-time behind the 25 WKU won in the late 1960's. The Racers had also won eight in a row away from home since the Dec. 22 loss at WKU
Tony Easley had two blocks in the game and is tied with Pearson Griffith for the MSU single-season record of 79. Griffith set it in the 2005-06 season.
