Belton 3-Pointer Seals Win
The Tennessee State Tigers (11-15, 8-9) rallied back from a
thirteen point second half deficit to defeat the Murray State Racers (15-10,
11-6) in Nashville on Thursday (2/14) at the Gentry Center.
TSU senior Andrae Belton came off the bench to lead
all-scorers with 16 points, including a game deciding 3-pointer with 0:18
remaining in the game. Bruce Price added 15 points, Reiley Ervin tallied 14 points
and Darius Cox chipped in 11 points. Cox barely missed a double-double as he
pulled down a game-high 9 rebounds.
Murray State was led in scoring by Bruce Carter and Ray
George who scored 13 points each, with Danero Thomas chipping in 11 points.
TSU started quickly, jumping out to a 5-0 lead (19:27) but
Murray State came back to take as much as an eight-point lead (33-25) with 3:18
left in the half. TSU closed the score to 37-35 at the half.
To open the second half, Tennessee State move ahead 38-37
(19:17) on a 3-pointer by Bruce Price, but the Racers regained the lead at
40-38 (18:31) and gradually opened their lead to as much as 13 points (69-56)
with 6:38 remaining in the game. The Tigers put together a 19-1 run over the
next 6:20 to move to a 75-70 lead when Belton canned a 3-pointer from the right
corner with 0:18 remaining in the game. Murray State's Bruce Carter missed a
3-pointer with 0:12 remaining and Belton claimed the rebound for the TSU win.
Tennessee State shot 46% (29-63) from the field, 37% (7-19) from
beyond the arc and 83% (10-12) from the FT line. Murray State hit 56% (28-50) from
the field, 39% (7-18) from 3-point range and 70% (7-10) from the charity
stripe. TSU won the battle of the boards 35-26.
