(St. Louis, MO) – Murray State pulled off the rare feat of winning the Ohio Valley Conference regular season title AND the postseason tournament title and they are heading to the NCAA Tournament. The Racers knocked off their nemesis, the Belmont Bruins 68-51.
Player of the Year and Tournament MVP Jonathan Stark led the way with 24 points, but it was the stingy Racer defense that made the difference. MSU held the OVC’s best shooting team to 19 points and a 28 percent shooting performance in the pivotal second half.
The Racers trailed 32-27 at the half and clamped down on the Belmont offense and completely shut down their outside shooting success. The Bruins made one of eleven shots from long distance, while the Racers converted seven of their 16 long range shots.
Head coach Matt McMahon said his team has had a high level of commitment from the very beginning of the season.
“They’ve been awesome every single day, all year long,” said McMahon. “They really sold out for the team, committed to each other and played for each other all year, and stepped up with a big time effort tonight. Defense was terrific. It was the best job we did all season long from a communication standpoint.”
What did it look like from the stands? One of our ticket winners provided this tweet.
Murray Fans love their team! #GoRacers @RacersHoops #OVCChamps @FatherHarry1 pic.twitter.com/K6i3gTtZCM
— Nate Smith (@The_Nate) March 4, 2018
Joining Stark on the all-tournament team were Racers Terrell Miller and Ja Morant, along with Bruins Austin Luke, and Amanze Egekeze. Stark is the 15th Racer to be named the tournament’s most outstanding player.
Now the Racers wait for their March Madness assignment. Most of the year the bracketologists have predicted the OVC champion would have an opening round assignment in Nashville. One can only hope that is true!
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Flooding, lightning strikes, etc. have cost @RacersHoops two home games. Had to play 'neutral site' tonight instead of at home and Wednesday's goes from home to away. Tough break for the Racers, and the whole area has been hit with difficulties. #FatherHarry
Murray State's scheduled home game Wednesday vs. Southern Illinois being moved to Banterra Center in Carbondale. #ValleyHoops
Gigantic game for @BradleyUMBB today in Des Moines. If they have a chance to catch @DrakeBulldogsMB, they have to win today. The Bulldogs can basically win the title today. @BustingBrackets breaks it all down. #FatherHarry https://bit.ly/3EGiVgi
Not rooting for any particular @ValleyHoops, but chaos is always fun. If things break certain ways, after today there could be a six-way tie for fifth place.
Fun to listen to @MLBLarry on the @SIU_Basketball/@BelmontMBB game tonight. Good job brother. #FatherHarry
