Steady Racers 7th Straight With Victory At SIU

Monday, December 22

Carbondale, IL

7:05 p.m.

Murray State

9-4

Southern Illinois

7-6

Murray State

Southern Illinois

Photo by: Tab Brockman

12/22/2014 9:50:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

The Murray State Racers pushed their win streak to seven Monday in an 83-71 win against the Southern Illinois Salukis Monday at the SIU Arena in Carbondale, Ill.

The Racers (9-4) scored their third road win of the season.

MSU evened their all-time series with the Salukis 16-16 and won at the SIU Arena for the first time since 1990 breaking a four-game losing streak there.

Cameron Payne led MSU with 22 points, while Jeffery Moss added 21.

The Racers jumped out to a 15-9 lead at the start on the strength of 3-point baskets from Moss and Sapp and a fast-break dunk from Williams.
SIU battled back with a 6-0 run and took a 16-15 lead at 11:44.

SIU hit MSU with a 9-0 run that put them in front 32-27 at the 5:27 mark which promoted a Racer timeout.

MSU took at one-point lead at 2:48 on a Moss three and made it more on an amazing shot from Sapp. MSU had the length of the floor to go with 5.1 left in the half. Payne took the inbounds pass and fed Sapp on the wing who hit a contested-off balance three at the buzzer for a 44-39 lead at the break.

Payne started the second half with nine points on a pair of made threes and three free throws after he was fouled taking a three-pointer. MSU had their largest lead of the day with 16:43 remaining 55-46.

MSU pushed ahead by 11 points at the 13:57 mark when Rambo finished under the basket coming out of the media timeout and Sapp made a steal and finished for a 59-48 Racer lead. The lead went to 64-48 at 12:09 when Moss made a three-point play and Payne hit a jumper.

Justin Seymour answered an 8-0 SIU run with his own 5-0 run on free throws and a 3-pointer. MSU led 69-56 with 7:12 left.

Game Notes
The Racers have now won eight straight games against current members of the Missouri Valley Conference. Their last loss was in the 2011 NIT at Missouri State.

The Racers now have a break for Christmas. The team will return from spending time with their families on Friday and begin preparation for their Dec. 30 home game against Alabama A&M. The day will be a women's/men's doubleheader at the CFSB Center. The women's team takes on Brescia at 5 p.m. and the men's game is set for 7 p.m.

MSU begins what promises to be an exciting Ohio Valley Conference race Jan. 3 when they open up at Morehead State. After three straight road games to start, MSU plays its