Spring Break
Men's Basketball: Racers roll to road victory
Dan Cusack / Staff Reporter
Issue date: 2/10/09 Section: Sports
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The Panthers trailed by as many as 13 in the second half against Murray State Monday night in Lantz Arena, and although they cut the lead to four with less than two minutes to play, they could not get any closer, losing 59-53.
"I think we kept the last play with us instead of going to the next play," head coach Mike Miller said. "I think we got stuck on some of the negative things that happened on the floor and couldn't play through it."
The Racers (12-10, 7-5 Ohio Valley Conference) handed the Panthers their second home loss this season. Murray State swept the Panthers this season as they beat them in Murray.
Eastern trailed by 12 points with 4:57 remaining in the second half after a pair of free throws by Murray State junior forward Danero Thomas, but Eastern responded with an eight-point run to cut Murray's lead to 53-49 on a lay-up by junior center Ousmane Cisse with 1:30 remaining.
But Eastern (11-12, 8-5 OVC) could not get a stop and Murray State made six of eight free throws to push the lead back to 10 with 25 seconds remaining. The Panthers put a dent in the lead with lay-ups by sophomore guard Tyler Laser and freshman guard Jeremy Granger, but came up short.
"We came out and played hard in that stretch at the end," said senior forward Billy Parrish, who finished with nine points. "We came in there and got in their stuff like they were doing to us, but it was too little too late. You have to do that all 40 minutes."
Despite the loss, the Panthers remain in fourth place in the league.
The score was close throughout the first half as Eastern and Murray were tied three times and were squared at 19 with 2:56 remaining in the half before Murray State ended the half on an 8-0 run.
Eastern only shot nine 3-pointers, converting just one. Parrish said Murray State's pressure defense took away perimeter shots from the wings.
Miller said Murray State's players that usually shoot 3-pointers could not get open looks, so the team played off the dribble more than usual.
Murray State senior guard Tyler Holloway said the team talked about limiting Eastern's top two outside shooting threats guards, junior guard Romain Martin and Laser.
"That was really the focal point of our defense coming into this game, knowing where they are at all times and not playing with them with one guy, but playing them as a unit. I thought we did a good job of that," Holloway said.
Martin finished with six points on 2-of-10 shooting (1-of-6 from beyond the arc).
Laser finished with four points (0-of-2 from beyond the arc).
Cisse was the only Panther to reached double digits with 12 points along with nine rebounds and one block.
Martin's six points leaves him five points shy of reaching the 1,000-point mark in his career.
Thomas led all scorers with 16 points for the Racers. Holloway added 11 and freshman forward Ivan Aska chipped in with eight points.
Eastern's next game will be 6:30 p.m. Thursday as they travel to Morehead, Ky., to take on Morehead State.
OVC Men's basketball standings
Team / OVC / Overall
Morehead State / 10-3 / 14-11
Tennessee-Martin / 9-3 / 16-6
Austin Peay / 10-4 / 14-10
E. Illinois / 8-5 / 11-12
Murray State / 7-5 / 12-10
E. Kentucky / 7-6 / 14-10
Jacksonville State / 5-9 / 11-12
Tennessee Tech / 5-9 / 11-13
Tennessee State / 5-9 / 7-17
Southeast Missouri / 0-13 / 3-21
Dan Cusack can be reached at 581-7944 or at dscusack@eiu.edu.
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