The Murray State Racers couldn’t keep momentum after a halftime lead and dropped an Ohio Valley Conference clash Thursday with the Belmont Bruins 79-72 defeat at the Curb Event Center in Nashville. The Racers fell to 13-5 overall and out of OVC first place at 5-2.
MSU returns to action Saturday with a 7:30 p.m. tip at the Gentry Center against Tennessee State in Nashville.
Led by Jonathan Stark’s 19 points, the Racers also got the 17th career double-double from Terrell Miller, Jr., on 16 points and 11 rebounds. Jalen Dupree had a career-high 13 rebounds to go with 12 points for his second MSU double-double, while Byron Hawkins came off the bench to score 15 points.
From the tip, each team found it difficult to score. The Racers were 0-of-8, while the Bruins were 0-of-3. Miller’s 3-pointer at the 17:39 mark made the score 3-0 Murray State. Miller made it a 10-5 MSU lead with another three at 15:40. MSU fell behind 22-16 at the 10:00 mark, but outscored Belmont 16-6 the rest of the first half for a 32-28 lead at the intermission.
In the second half, MSU led 51-50 after a Ja Morant 3-point basket with 12:20 remaining. That was MSU’s final lead when Belmont hit the Racers with a 12-2 run to grab a 53-62 lead with 8:08 left. Leading by four points at the 12:20 mark, the Racers’ shooting slumped and Belmont starting hitting. The Bruins outscored the Racers 29-11 the rest of the way for the 79-72 final.
(Courtesy MSU Athletics)