Murray State
Austin Peay
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Isacc Miles Buzzer Shot Lifts MSU To 65-63 Win Over APSU
2/6/2010 8:24:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Isacc Miles hit a jumper at the buzzer Saturday to give the Murray State Racers a thrilling 65-63 victory over the Austin Peay Governors in the Regional Special Events Center in front of the largest crowd of the season of 6,017 in Murray, Ky.
Miles' heroics came after APSU's John Fraley hit a pair of free throws to tie the game at 63 with 4.1 seconds remaining.
"We work on that play in practice, the five-four-three-two-one play," Miles said. "The shot felt good when it left my hand."
After a review by the game officials, the shot was confirmed good.
CLICK HERE TO WATCH (Video by WPSD, audio by the Racer Radio Network with Neal Bradley)
Miles was a big reason the Racers were able to overcome a 61-58 deficit in the game's final 2:51 as he drove to the basket twice making tough shots.
He scored MSU's final seven points for his entire game total; he was 0-of-6 from the field before his run at the end.
"The game wasn't going my way all night as far as making shots," Miles said. "But I believe taking it to the rim a couple of times late in the game gave me some confidence for the last shot."
The win kept MSU's remarkable run alive, they've won 13 straight games and are chasing the program's all-time winning streak of 16 set twice in the late 1930's.
"Obviously very thankful to get the win," MSU head coach Billy Kennedy said. "We've been on the other situation of that for three years. I can remember four games where someone has hit the game winner against us, so It's nice to finally get some breaks and Isacc made a heck of a play."
"In 4.1 seconds you can go the length of the court, especially if you're as fast as Isacc Miles," Kennedy added. "He made the right play and thankfully he made the shot. It worked out the way we drew it up, but it doesn't always work out like that."
The Racers battled the Govs zone defense from the opening tip and fell behind in the first nine minutes by a 21-10 score.
MSU got back into the contest with a 14-3 run to tie it at 28 with 3:37 before halftime.
APSU had a 49-43 lead in the early second half, before the Racers mounted their rally.
Danero Thomas, who scored a career-high 30 points against the Govs a year ago, scored 23 in this one and made two three-pointers in the second half. He also tied his career-high with 11 rebounds.
Tony Easley scored 12 points to go with eight boards, to help the Racers push their home win streak to 16.
The night was special even before Miles' buzzer beater.
The MSU Hall of Fame 2010 class was honored and Marcus Brown had his No. 5 retired at halftime.
The Racers return to action Thursday with a 7:30 p.m. game at Tennessee Tech and travel to Jacksonville State Saturday for a 4:30 p.m. game. Both games will be aired on the Racer Television Network.
