MURRAY ST. WINS OVC SHOWDOWN

MURRAY, Ky. -- De'Teri Mayes scored 19 points -- including his 1,000th career point midway through the second half -- as Murray State beat Eastern Illinois 88-77 Thursday night.

The Racers (16-2, 6-1 Ohio Valley Conference) led by as many as nine in the first half before the Panthers (8-7, 5-2) cut the margin to two, 43-41, by halftime.

The two teams stayed within four points through most of the second half. Mayes got his 1,000th point on a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 9:54 remaining.

Chad Townsend scored 18 points -- including a perfect 10-of-10 from the free-throw line -- and dished out seven assists for Murray.

Rick Kaye led all scorers with 26 points while Marc Polite had 11 and Idris Osei-Agyeman 10 for Eastern Illinois.

Middle Tennessee St. 63, Austin Peay 38

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. -- Aylton Tesch and Freddie Martinez each scored 13 points as Middle Tennessee State defeated Austin Peay.

Ali McGhee added 12 points for the Blue Raiders (12-3, 6-1 OVC).

Austin Peay (7-7, 2-4) tied the game at 6-6 and then trailed for the rest of the game. The Governors were behind 30-20 at the half.

Reggie Crenshaw and Jake Powers led Austin Peay with seven points each. Powers also hit the Governor's only 3-pointer of the game, in which Austin Peay was 1-of-17.

Tennessee St. 56, Tennessee Tech 42

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. -- Jason Johnson scored 23 points and Keith Samuel added 11 as Tennessee State cruised past Tennessee Tech.

Johnson scored six points as the Tigers (6-9, 3-4 OVC) opened with a 10-0 run.

Tech (4-14, 0-7) shot only 20 percent from the floor if the first half and didn't get its first basket until Alex Franco scored with 14:01 left.

Tennessee State pushed its lead to 23-8 with 8:46 left in the half on a basket by Kevin Samuel and went on to lead 29-12 at the half.

Reggie Nelson topped Tech with 9 points.