The Murray State Racers dropped a 68-64 defeat to the Southern Illinois Salukis Tuesday night at the Banterra Center in Carbondale, Ill., in front of 6,507.
The Racers (11-10) fell to 6-5 in the Missouri Valley Conference as they return home Saturday to host the Missouri State Bears at 1 p.m. in Murray. Saturday’s game is sure to be a fan favorite on Ja Morant Poster Day.
In a highly entertaining game, the Racers started the game trailing 10-2, but came back to tie the game at 12-12 on a three-point play by Moore. When Moore hit a free throw at the 9:08 mark, the run for MSU was 12-2 and a 17-14 lead. After the Racers hit 6-of-7 from the field for a 28-25 lead at 4:17, SIU hit three-straight 3-pointers and went into the halftime intermission with a 34-30 lead.
Rob Perry collected his first double-double for MSU with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Brian Moore, Jr., added 19 points and Jamari Smith scored 15 points.
Trailing by six points as the game ticked under 10 minutes remaining, the Racers put together a gutsy 10-0 run. In the middle of it were two hustle plays by Quincy Anderson to help the Racers go in front 54-50 with Perry’s contested corner jumper with 6:44 to play.
SIU, who had a share of MVC first place when the day started, dug in and took the lead for good with 3:19 left at 61-60. The Racers had three chances to either take the lead or tie the game in the final seconds, but came up short.
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