Belmont Wins 2015 OVC Men's Basketball Tournament Championship

3/7/2015 8:00:41 AM

#3 BELMONT 88, #1 MURRAY STATE 87
NASHVILLE (AP) - Taylor Barnette hit a 3-pointer with 3.2 seconds left, and the Belmont Bruins upset No. 25 Murray State 88-87 on Saturday night to win the Ohio Valley Conference tournament championship and clinch their seventh NCAA Tournament berth.

The Bruins (22-10) improved to 7-1 in conference tournament finals -- all in the past decade. They knocked off defending tournament champ Eastern Kentucky in the semifinals and beat Murray State, the regular-season champ, to earn their first NCAA berth since 2013 when they needed overtime to beat the Racers in the title game.

Murray State had one last chance, but T.J. Sapp's deep 3 came nowhere near the basket before the buzzer.

The Racers (27-5) couldn't add a perfect run through the tournament to the first undefeated league record in the program's history. The Racers snapped a 25-game winning streak that had been second only to No. 1 Kentucky.

Cameron Payne hit two free throws with 20.7 seconds left putting Murray State ahead for the last time at 87-85. Nick Smith missed a 3 for Belmont wide right of the basket with 11 seconds left, but the Bruins had one last chance throwing the ball in with 9.1 seconds remaining. Barnette, scoreless in the first half, tossed in the winning 3 off balance with a defender in his face.

That was the 12th and final lead change in a game that also had 10 ties keeping fans on their feet for much of the second half. Both teams shot 50 percent or better.

Craig Bradshaw scored 25 points for Belmont, and Evan Bradds added 21. Smith finished with 16 as the Bruins knocked down 15 3-pointers.

Sapp finished with a career-high 28 points. Payne, the OVC player of the year, finished with 20 points. Jeffery Moss added 12, Jarvis Williams 11 and Jonathan Fairell 10.

Belmont jumped on the Racers from the start, thanks to hitting eight 3-pointers, and the Bruins jumped out to a 29-19 lead. Murray State finished the half on a 30-12 run, and the Racers took the lead at 37-36 on a one-handed dunk by Fairell with 4:52 left. They took a 49-41 lead into halftime even with Payne, the OVC player of the year, scoring only five points in the half.

Bradds scored 10 straight for the Bruins to get them back into the game, setting up another thrilling finish between these teams.

2015 OVC All-Tournament Team
Cameron Payne, Murray State
T.J. Sapp, Murray State
Craig Bradshaw, Belmont
Evan Bradds, Belmont
Taylor Barnette, Belmont (MVP)