National Basketball Association
Belmont 88, Murray St. 87
When: 7:00 PM ET, Saturday, March 7, 2015
Where: Nashville Auditorium, Nashville, Tennessee
Officials:
# Jeb Hartness, # James Hicks, # Craig Murley
Attendance:
5293
By SportsDirect Inc.
Belmont 88, No. 24 Murray State 87: Taylor Barnette sank a fadeaway 3-pointer with 3.2 seconds left and the Bruins held on to win the Ohio Valley Conference tournament championship in Nashville, Tenn., snapping the Racers' 25-game win streak.
Craig Bradshaw scored 25 points and Evan Bradds finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds for Belmont (22-10). Nick Smith added 16 points off the bench and Reece Chamberlain had nine points and 10 rebounds for the Bruins, who have won seven straight.
T.J. Sapp scored a career-high 28 points and Cameron Payne finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds for Murray State (27-5), which went 16-0 in conference play. Jeffery Moss added 12 points as all five starters scored in double figures for the Racers.
Payne made two free throws with 21 seconds left to break a tie at 85 and Smith missed a 3-pointer on the other end with 10 seconds remaining. Belmont secured the offensive rebound, however, and called timeout with 10 seconds left before Barnette hit his game-winner.
Murray State led by eight at the half, but couldn’t shake the Bruins, who scored the first six points after halftime. They eventually knotted the score at 58 on two free throws by Bradds with 13:37 on the clock and tied the score four more times before moving ahead 70-67 on Barnette’s 3-pointer with 8:33 left.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Belmont won its second conference tournament title, while Murray State was trying for its 16th. … The Racers, who came in 31-0 when outrebounding their opponent this season, lost the battle on the boards 36-29. … Murray State C Jarvis Williams, who had double-doubles in two straight games and 11 overall this season, finished with 11 points and seven rebounds.
Top Game Performances
| Belmont |
|
Murray St. |
|
Craig Bradshaw 25 |
Scoring |
T.J. Sapp 28 |
|
Reece Chamberlain 10 |
Assists |
Cameron Payne 10 |
|
Evan Bradds 11 |
Rebounds |
Jonathan Fairell 8 |
|
Evan Bradds 5 |
Free Throws Made |
T.J. Sapp 4 |
|
Taylor Barnette 2 |
Steals |
Cameron Payne 3 |
|
Mack Mercer 1 |
Blocks |
Jonathan Fairell 2 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Belmont
|
88 |
50.8 |
15-38 |
7-9 |
19 |
32 |
2 |
5 |
12 |
| Murray St.
|
87 |
52.4 |
11-28 |
10-12 |
14 |
27 |
5 |
6 |
10 |
For more information, contact us