2019 OVC Men's Basketball Championship Recaps - Semifinals

3/8/2019 10:17:33 AM

#1 BELMONT 83, #4 AUSTIN PEAY 67
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - Behind 32 points and a career-high 21 rebounds from senior All-America candidate Dylan Windler, Belmont University men's basketball defeated Austin Peay, 83-67, Friday in the 2019 OVC semifinal round to advance to the conference championship game.

Austin Peay closed the first half on a 13-5 run to lead 43-40 at halftime, before Belmont methodically seized control in the second half.

A Windler 3-pointer gave Belmont a 50-49 lead with 14:51 remaining, and the Bruins would not trail thereafter.

After Austin Peay tied the score at 54, Belmont limited the Governors to two made field goals over a six minute stretch. An offensive rebound basket from junior Seth Adelsperger gave Belmont a 70-60 lead with 6:44 left.

But Windler was the story, scoring from all angles and securing innumerable defensive rebounds. He tallied 19 points and 14 rebounds in the second half.

Belmont outrebounded Austin Peay, 46-30, and held the Governors to 29 percent shooting in the second 20 minutes.

Senior Kevin McClain had 20 points, while freshman Nick Muszynski (Pickerington, Ohio) added 11.

Freshman Grayson Murphy had eight points, five rebounds and 11 assists.

Chris Porter-Bunton led Austin Peay (22-11) with 18 points.

#2 MURRAY STATE 76, #3 JACKSONVILLE STATE 74
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - The Murray State Racers won a thrilling Ohio Valley Conference Tournament semifinal game 76-74 Friday over the
Jacksonville State Gamecocks at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana.

The win pushed the Racers (26-4) to their 10th win in a row and into the OVC title game against the Belmont Bruins, Saturday at 7 p.m. CT on ESPN2 and Westwood One. Belmont defeated Austin Peay 83-67.

The first in a list of Racer heroes was Shaq Buchanan who hit back-to-back 3-pointers that erased a JSU lead and put MSU in front 70-67 with 3:03 left. Jaiveon Eaves’ 3-pointer seemingly was the dagger that put the Racers in front by four points at 2:09, but JSU came back to take the lead. MSU’s run was 15-5 after they trailed by six with seven minutes remaining.

The final hero for the Racers was OVC Player of the Year, Ja Morant, who had the ball in his hands and the Racers down by a point with eight seconds on the clock. Morant scored for lead and hit the free throw after he was fouled for a three-point play sending the Racers to the OVC finals 76-74.

When the dust cleared, Morant had 29 points on 9-of-14 from the field with six rebounds and eight assists, while Buchanan added 13 points and Darnell Cowart scored a double-double on 11 points and 12 rebounds.

The first half saw the Racers use a 10-0 run to grab a 38-28 lead at 3:32 on a Buchanan 3-pointer. They pushed to their largest lead on a pair of baskets by KJ Williams to make the score 42-30 at 2:04. The Racers went into the halftime intermission leading 42-33 on 51 percent shooting.