Racers Drop Thriller At Belmont 99-96

Thursday, February 6

Nashville, Tenn.

8 p.m.

Murray State

13-9 (8-2)

Belmont

18-8 (9-2)

Murray State

Belmont

Photo by: Tab Brockman

2/6/2014 5:35:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

I Box Score (PDF)

The Murray State Racers played in the game of the year thus far in the Ohio Valley Conference season in a wild 99-96 defeat against the Belmont Bruins at the Curb Events Center in Nashville, Tenn.

In a rematch of last spring's OVC Tournament title game, the Racers nearly erased a 10-point deficit with a minute remaining. The game ended only after T.J. Sapp intercepted a pass at mid-court with 3.5 seconds left and advanced far enough up the court to get a clean look at a would-be tying 3-pointer. When Sapp's shot fell off the rim, MSU (13-9) fell to 8-2 in league play and still the leader in the OVC East Division, while the Bruins (18-8) moved to 9-2 and on top in the OVC East Division.

With the game tied 45-45 at half, Belmont hit the Racers with a 12-2 run that put them in front 73-63 with 11:12 left.

The Racers cut the lead to six on a pair of free throws from Jarvis Williams with 2:41 left, but Belmont answered and had a 93-83 lead with a minute remaining when the Racers made their charge.

Sapp and Cameron Payne each hit a 3-pointer and made it a four-point game with 44.6 left. C.J. Ford made a pair of free throws to cut the lead to three with 12.5 left, but J.J. Mann hit two of his own with 9.3 remaining. Payne was fouled taking a 3-point attempt and made two free throws with 3.5 left. Sapp picked off the inbounds pass but missed the shot that would've sent the game to overtime.

In the first half, the Racers fell behind early 22-12 at the 13:01 mark, but rallied on the back of Dexter Fields. The MSU senior hit four 3-point baskets with the last keeping the Racers close at 29-19 at 9:40. MSU took their first lead of the day with 4:20 left when Sapp hit a 3-point from top of the key. The Racers had a 15-2 run since trailing 35-23 at the 7:55 mark.

The half ended in a 45-45 deadlock when Belmont's Caleb Chowbay scored with 30 seconds left.

Williams had his 10^th double-double of the season with 21 points and 13 rebounds, while Payne had a career-high 29 points to go with six assists. Sapp added 20 points. Fields had 12 points in the first half and 15 for the game. Jonathan Fairell had 11 rebounds for MSU.

The Racers must quickly get over this setback quickly and get ready for Saturday's game at Tennessee State at the Gentry Center in Nashville. Tip time is set for 7:30 p.m. on Racer Radio on Froggy 103.7 FM and online at GoRacers.com and Froggy103.com. The Racer TV Network airs the game on the local cable outlets of: Time Warner, Murray Electric and Mediacom. ESPN3.com and the OVC Digital Network will provide online streaming video.