TERRE HAUTE, Ind. ? Indiana State was looking for its first win of the 2008-09 season on Wednesday night in a match-up against Ohio Valley Conference foe Murray State. The Sycamores (0-3) held an eight-point lead during the first half and went into the locker room with a two-point lead at halftime, but they could not reign in the Racers (3-1) in the second half and dropped a 67-61 decision at the Hulman Center.
ISU jumped out to a quick 5-2 lead, with all five points being scored by sophomore Aaron Carter. That lead did not last long, as the Racers went on a 5-0 run to take a 7-5 lead after a jumper by Danero Thomas. A three-pointer by redshirt freshman Keenan Barlow at the 16:20 mark gave the Sycamores the lead back at 8-7 and they would hold steadily extend that lead over the next five plus minutes.
Senior Jay Tunnell's layup at the 10:30 mark in the first half gave ISU its biggest lead of the game at 24-16, before two free throws by MSU's Isacc Miles and one by Ivan Aska cut the lead to five at 24-19 with 9:10 remaining on the clock. Carter then answered with his second trey to widen the lead back to eight points with 8:00 remaining. The Racers then went on a 7-0 run to cut the lead to one at 27-26, but a layup by sophomore Isiah Martin and a three-pointer from redshirt freshman Jordan Printy extended the lead back to six at 32-26 in favor of the Sycamores.
Two-straight jumpers by Thomas cut the lead the two points a minute later for the Racers, before a three-pointer by Tunnell made the score 35-30 with 33 seconds left on the clock. The Racers then went down the floor and Thomas drained a trey with five seconds remaining to cut the ISU lead to 35-33 at the half.
ISU held the lead for the first two and a half minutes of the second half before Thomas hit another three-pointer to tie the game at 37-37 with 16:02 on the clock. MSU scored the next six straight points to take a six point lead at 43-37, before a jumper by Rashad Reed and a three-pointer by Barlow cut the lead to just one at 43-42 at the 13:36 mark.
From there, it was all Racers as they steadily increased their lead to eight points at 54-46 over the next seven and a half minutes. ISU soon chipped away at the lead as a three-pointer by Tunnell with 4:07 remaining cut the lead to two at 58-56. That forced Murray State to call a timeout and re-group for the stretch run.
Murray came out of the timeout and widened the lead to fourth points at 61-57 with 2:48 remaining, before a jumper by freshman Carl Richard cut the lead to two at 61-59 with just over a minute remaining. ISU would never get close from there, as the Racers got a jumper from Miles and six free throws over the last minute to secure the 67-61 victory.
Tunnell led the way for the Sycamores with 12 points and seven rebounds in the defeat, while Barlow recorded a career-high 11 points and five rebounds in the loss for ISU. Carter also finished in double figures with 10 points to go along with three assists. Thomas led all scorers with 22 points on 8-for-15 shooting, including a 4-for-6 effort from three-point range.
Indiana State returns to action on Saturday, when they travel to Chicago to face off against Big East Conference foe DePaul, with tip off is set for 2 p.m. ET at Allstate Arena. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN Radio 1130/1300 AM in the Wabash Valley and also on WSCR-AM 670 The Score in the Chicago.
