The Murray State Racers saw their 12-game road conference win streak snapped Saturday in a 65-64 defeat to Jacksonville State at Pete Mathews Coliseum in Jacksonville, Ala.
The Racers (15-5) had their four-game win streak stopped as they fell to 6-2 in the west division of the Ohio Valley Conference.
MSU nearly pulled the game out of the fire after they trailed by five (62-57)with 40 second remaining. Stacy Wilson hit a three-point basket and MSU cut the JSU lead to two with 29 seconds left. Isaiah Canaan hit a pair of free throws with 12.8 left to cut the lead to 63-62. The Racers pressed and Ed Daniel caused a JSU turnover that MSU converted into a basket by Brandon Garrett on the ensuing inbounds play to give MSU a 64-63 lead with nine seconds left. It was MSU’s first lead since 7:47 of the first half when the score was 17-16.
JSU’s Brian Williams was fouled with 2.4 seconds left and made both free throws to put the Gamecocks back in front by a point. MSU’s Canaan missed a shot from mid-court as the buzzer sounded.
MSU’s loss snapped their 12-game road win streak in OVC games that dated all the way back to February of 2011 with a loss at Southeast Missouri. The win for JSU was just their first over MSU in 17 tries since joining the OVC in 2004.
Canaan led MSU with 20 points, with Daniel recording his 12th double-double of the season with 10 points and 17 rebounds. Wilson added 16 points.
For the game, MSU shot 42 percent from the field (23-of-55) and 22 percent from three-point range (4-of-18), while JSU was 40 percent from the field (20-of-50) and 35 percent (5-of-14) from the three-point line. MSU went to the line 23 times and made 14 for 61 percent, while the Gamecocks (14-7, 6-4) made 20-of-30 for 68 percent.
The first half saw MSU lead early 7-2 and 17-16 with 7:47 left, but JSU closed the half on a 14-4 run to grab a 30-21 lead at half.
The Racers return to action next Saturday (Feb. 2) when they host Austin Peay at noon. The game will air on ESPNU and Racer Radio on WFGE 103.7 FM. Streaming audio can be found on GoRacers.com and Froggy103.com.
Story courtesy of Sports Information.