MURRAY, Ky. – Murray State made 14-of-17 free throws in the second half and held off a late surge from the visiting Bears in a nip-and-tuck 74-71 decision here Saturday.
The Bears (11-11, 7-5 MVC) were led by a career-high 22 points from Alston Mason and 14 points from Donovan Clay, while Damien Mayo Jr. notched a career-high 13, and Jonathan Mogbo racked up 10 points and a career-best 16 rebounds in the loss. It was Mogbo’s fourth double-double in eight games.
Murray State (12-10, 7-5) got 17 points apiece from Rob Perry and Brian Moore Jr.
The decisive swing came with a 9-0 run from the Racers that included four straight possessions at the free throw line. After Clay’s layup on a lob from Mason gave Missouri State a 55-53 lead at the 10:52 mark, the visitors went scoreless for nearly five minutes while the Racers made their run. The home side rode the coat tails of Kenny White Jr., who started the 9-0 run, while a three-point play from D.J. Burns extended things. Free throw chances by Brian Moore and Jamari Smith made it 64-57 before the dust settled.
Smith’s jumper with 3:05 remaining ended a 13-3 stretch for Murray State and gave the Racers their biggest lead of the day, 66-58.
But the Bears were able to mount a comeback in the final two minutes with Mason scoring five big points in crunch time, and Clay flushing home a second-chance dunk. But the Racers were solid on their ample free throw opportunities with the game on the line. Burns and Perry combined to make four charity shots in the final 21 seconds and ruin MoState’s comeback hopes.
The Bears finished 28-of-62 (.452) overall from the field and 5-of-19 (.263) from long range with Mason’s trey in the final minute as the only bonus ball of the second half from the visitors. MoState was also 10-of-15 at the line with a 35-30 rebounding edge.
Missouri State matched a season-high with 46 points in the paint and surrendered just tw points off its nine turnovers.
Murray was 24-for-51 (.471) overall, 5-of-15 (.333) from three and 87.5 percent at the line on 21-of-24 attempts. The Racers also committed a dozen turnovers.
In the first half, both teams led for about six-and-a-half minutes with nine ties and four lead changes in an offensive-oriented stanza. Murray State got a layup from Kenny White Jr. to go ahead 37-35 at the break with Rob Perry accounting for 15 points for the home side in the opening half.
The Bears led 10-5 out of the gates with Alston Mason and James Graham knocking down threes as part of an 8-0 run for Missouri State. Graham would later tie the game with his second trey of the period with 6:59 remaining, and Donovan Clay gave MoState two leads in the final five minutes – both from close range – the latter of which put the Bears up 35-33 with 3:11 showing. But the visitors missed their last four field goal attempts of the opening half, and the Racers scored last to take a two-point advantage.
Missouri State returns to Great Southern Bank Arena on Wednesday to take on Valparaiso at 7 p.m.
Tickets for the Valpo game are available at MissouriStateBears.com or by visiting the box office at Great Southern Bank Arena, (417) 836-7678, during box office hours. Missouri State has also announced a “3-for-15” ticket special for the month of February, allowing fans to purchase lower-level seats for three of the four games for just $15.
