RACERS TAKE OVC FLAG; MURRAY CLINCHES SHARE OF TITLE, TOPS SE 82-71

Like a heavyweight boxing champion, Murray State's Racers withstood every barrage Southeast Missouri State University threw at them Saturday night.

Despite an impressive, gritty performance by the undermanned Indians -- who were spurred on by a boisterous Show Me Center crowd of 6,593 -- the Racers simply had too many weapons as they prevailed 82-71.

Murray, which won for the seventh straight time overall -- and recorded its 12th straight victory over Southeast -- improved to 24-3 overall and 14-2 in Ohio Valley Conference play.

The Racers have clinched at least a share of the OVC championship and they have wrapped up the top seed for the conference tournament.

Southeast, which lost for just the second time in its last seven games, fell to 13-12 overall and 9-8 in OVC play.

The Indians, who played their final home game Saturday, have been eliminated in the chase for fourth place and a first-round tournament home game. Fifth-place Southeast can no longer catch fourth-place Austin Peay, which routed Tennessee Tech Saturday.

"Murray State is just really a good team, a championship caliber team. That's all you can say," said Southeast coach Gary Garner. "I thought we played well. We could have shot the ball a little better from three. If we make a few more, we probably win the game."

The Indians, who had been sizzling from 3-point range in recent games, hit just six of 27 Saturday, although the Racers made it difficult for Southeast -- and particularly shooter deluxe Cory Johnson -- to get the kind of wide-open treys that had been coming in recent games.

"I thought SEMO played extremely well. They're playing the way they have to play with a smaller team," said Murray coach Mark Gottfried. "We wanted to limit their run of 3-pointers because they're capable of doing that. I thought we did a good job."

Southeast had no answer for Murray's dazzling inside-outside combination of 6-foot-6 sophomore forward Isaac Spencer and 6-3 senior guard De'Teri Mayes.

Mayes, who earlier in the season lit up Arkansas for 42 points, scored 24 Saturday, 15 coming in the first half.

Spencer hit eight of 11 shots inside and scored 23 points. He also pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds as Murray won the battle of the boards by a 37-28 count.

The Racers, who shot 53 percent from the field (30 of 57) and 85 percent from the free-throw line (17 of 20), also got 18 points and eight assists from senior point guard Chad Townsend.

"They really hurt us inside with Spencer. We're just too small," Garner said. "Mayes is a great player, but they have what every great team has to have and that's an inside-outside game. They're just so hard to defend."

Southeast, which shot 43 percent from the field (25 of 58) and 65 percent from the line (15 of 23), got 21 points and eight rebounds from David Montgomery, who hit nine of 12 shots.

Johnson added 13 points but, with Mayes covering him like a glove most of the night, hit only one of eight 3-pointers. Freshman Nathan Owen added 11 points.

The Indians led 3-2 early, but Murray controlled the rest of the first half and carried a 39-32 advantage into halftime.

Murray, known for scoring points in bunches, used a 10-0 run to push out to the game's biggest lead of 51-36 early in the second half.

But the Indians made sure that this night would be far from easy for the Racers. Southeast used a 14-2 run of its own to pull to within 53-50 with more than 13 minutes left.

Southeast kept on coming and finally took its first lead since 3-2 when Owen drained a long 3-pointer that made it 60-59 with just under eight minutes remaining.

With the home crowd in a frenzy, Southeast and Murray traded baskets over the next several minutes as the lead changed hands five times.

The game was still tied at 67-67 on Owen's 3-pointer with 4:40 left, but the Racers then used a 7-0 run -- five points coming from Mayes -- to take control at 74-67.

Southeast got no closer than five points again as the talented Racers were able to score on 11 of their final 12 possessions.

"I was proud of our guys because we had some really big baskets when we had to have them," said Gottfried.

Garner was equally proud of his team.

"You just can't ask for a better effort," he said. "To be down 15 to a team like Murray and to come back and take the lead really says something. They've just got so much talent."

Garner also heaped plenty of praise on the large, enthusiastic crowd.

"I hope we can eventually get the Show Me Center like this for every game," said the Indians' first-year coach. "I think we can."

Southeast will close out the regular season next Saturday with a game at Eastern Illinois.