Racers Win Thriller In Battle Of The Border Meeting With APSU

Thursday, February 14

Clarksville, Tenn.

8 p.m.

Murray State

20-4 (11-2OVC)

Austin Peay

18-8 (10-3OVC)

Murray St.

Austin Peay

Photo by: Dave Winder-Murray State Athletics

Racers Win Thriller In Battle Of The Border Meeting With APSU

2/14/2019 11:50:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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The Murray State Racers scrapped with the Austin Peay Governors Thursday and won a thriller 73-71 at the Dunn Center in Clarksville, Tennessee.

The win for the Racers (20-4) kept them in first place tie with Belmont in the Ohio Valley Conference at 11-2, as the Governors (18-8) dropped into a third place tie with Jacksonville State at 10-3.

The Racers get back on the court Saturday in a 6 p.m. Central Time game at Eastern Kentucky in McBrayer Arena in Richmond.

Ja Morant scored 32 points and dished out seven assists as he recorded his 19^th game this season of 20 points or more and his fourth of 30 points or more. Tevin Brown hit four 3-point baskets to add 14 points, while Darnell Cowart scored 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting. KJ Williams added a team-high nine rebounds.

Leading by as many as 11 points twice in the second half, the Racers had to claw their way to the win in the final seconds. Williams grabbed a rebound with 1:13 remaining and scored the put-back for a 73-69 Racer lead. Morant made an incredible blocked shot with 54 seconds on the clock, but stepped out of bounds as he tried to gather the ball. The Govs scored on their second chance when Chris Porter-Bunton hit a jumper to make it 73-71 with 44 seconds left. Morant's layup try with 16 seconds left sat tantalizingly on the rim before it fell off giving APSU a last chance to tie it or win it. When Zach Glotta's 3-point try rimmed off with less than two seconds left, the tip-in try by Chris Harris went in, but after the officials reviewed the play, it was disallowed the Racers had a big road win.

In the first half, the Racers led by as many as nine points with 5:12 remaining in the half when Brown hit back-to-back threes. Morant scored at the buzzer to give Murray State a 40-35 lead at the intermission.

Game Notes
Morant is chasing career 1,000 points and now has 987. He is also closing on 500 career assists and is up to 443.

With those MSU players with at least 100 assists in a season, Morant's season is among the best in Racer history. Combining points and assists, Morant is up to 824 and ranks behind only Cameron Payne (2014-15) at 916, Jonathan Stark (2016-17) at 895 and Marcus Brown (1995-96) at 886.

The Racers now lead the all-time series with Austin Peay 83-43 and are 30-28 away from home.

After tonight's result, the Racers lead the Heritage Bank Battle of the Border 15-6. The MSU women's team visits Austin Peay Saturday.
Game two between these rivals will be the final game and home game of the regular season (March 2) in a women's/men's doubleheader.

The Racers stay on the road for a Saturday game at Eastern Kentucky. Tip time is set for 6 p.m. Central Time at McBrayer Arena in Richmond, Ky. The Racers and Colonels met in Murray (Jan. 5) with the Racers posting a 97-85 victory.