Fields Ignites Rally - Racers Move To CIT Semis - Murray State University Athletics

Thursday, March 27

CFSB Center

7 p.m.

Murray State

21-11

Towson

25-11

Towson

Murray St.

Photo by: Tab Brockman

Fields Ignites Rally - Racers Move To CIT Semis

3/27/2014 9:46:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

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The Murray State Racers advanced to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament semifinals with an 85-73 win over the Towson Tigers at the CFSB Center in Murray, Ky.

The Racers (21-11) will host the Pacific Tigers (18-15) in one of the CIT semifinals at home in the CFSB Center Tuesday (April 1) at 8 p.m.

MSU's only senior, Dexter Fields, keyed a 24-6 burst that turned what had been a tight contest right from the tip, into the 13^th straight home win for the Racers.

With the game tied 57-57 with 9:40 remaining, Fields hit back-to-back 3-pointers and the Racers were off and running with a game-changing run. Fields was 5-of-9 from long range for the game as the Racers overcame a 3-of-12 first half to hit 7-of-11 in the second half. Cameron Payne capped it with a 3-pointer and the Racers led the Tigers 81-63 with 3:17 left to play.

Payne led MSU with 24 points to go with seven assists. Fields was successful in keeping his final season with the Racers going with 15 points. Jonathan Fairell turned in his second straight double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Jarvis Williams had 18 points, nine rebounds to go with three blocked shots and a pair of steals. Tyler Rambo played 18 productive minutes with six points and three steals.

The Racers flipped a halftime score where they trailed 39-36 to hand Towson (25-11) their first loss of the season when leading. Towson was 19-0 when leading at half and the Racers were 1-7 when trailing. MSU's other win was at Eastern Illinois (Jan. 16) when they trailed the Panthers 36-28 and came back to win 70-66.

MSU spent most of the first half keeping Towson within striking distance.

The Racers led 7-3 but fell behind 29-23 with 5:31 before half. Payne hit a shot 1:07 before the horn to make it a 39-36 Towson lead at the break.

The second half featured seven lead changes. The Racers trailed the Tigers 51-48 at 13:56 when the Racers missed a three and Towson's Mike Burwell hit a 3-pointer. Payne tied it with a long three moments later. The lead was MSU's for good at the 11:20 mark when Jeffery Moss dunked on a fast break after MSU grabbed one of their season-high 11 steals against an NCAA D-I opponent.

Game Notes
The Racers are into the CIT semifinals where they'll meet the Pacific Tigers Tuesday (April 1) at the CFSB Center at 8 p.m. The other semifinal game has Yale (18-13) visiting VMI (22-12) also Tuesday at Lexington City, Va. Both CIT semifinals will be aired on television by the CBS Sports Network.

MSU has played Pacific once with a game in Evansville, Ind., in 1971. Under head coach Cal Luther, the Racers won the game 90-87.

The Tigers are out of the West Coast Conference where they were 6-12 this season and finished tied for eighth place with Santa Clara. Pacific was 15-14 in the regular season. The Tigers have posted three wins in the CIT including a 69-67 win at Grand Canyon (March 19). The Tigers have won back-to-back games at home since with an 89-60 win over Texas A&M Corpus Christi (March 22) and a 75-60 victory over San Diego on Wednesday.

MSU extended its home win streak at the CFSB Center to 13 straight with the win. The Racers are 37-6 in the Steve Prohm era at home and 15-1 this season. MSU's only home loss came to Middle Tennessee (Nov. 26).

Steve Prohm is now 73-23 (.760) in three seasons with the Racers.

The Racers are 5-3 in post-season play since 2010. That includes two NCAA Tournament wins and three wins this season in the CIT.

Cameron Payne had seven assists tonight and has 175 this season. His total is second all-time for a single season at MSU. Chad Townsend set the mark of 212 in the 1996-97 season.