TUESDAY'S SCORES
@Murray State 81, UTEP 66 (NIT)
@Eastern Kentucky 81, Norfolk State 75 (CIT)
Eastern Illinois 97, @Oakland 91 (CIT)
MURRAY STATE 81, UTEP 66
MURRAY, Ky. - The Murray State Racers advanced in the National Invitation Tournament Tuesday when they won a first-round game over the UTEP Miners, 81-66, at the CFSB Center in Murray, Kentucky.
The win put the Racers into a second round game at Tulsa, who defeated William & Mary at home, 70-67. The Racers will play at Tulsa with the game date and time being announced soon.
The Racers got a double-double from Jarvis Williams with 25 points and 14 rebounds, while T.J. Sapp tossed in 21. Cameron Payne flirted with a triple-double with 14 points,10 assists and seven rebounds.
The Racers improved to 28-5 and won their 15th straight home game.
Leading 37-32 at half, the Racers turned on the speed and hit UTEP with a 13-2 run and built a 50-34 lead when Sapp nailed a 3-pointer with 16:16 left.
MSU matched their 16-point lead at 4:45 when Williams hit a pair of free throws.
The win for MSU was their first NIT home win and their first overall win in the tournament since beating Alabama under head coach Ron Greene in 1980.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 81, NORFOLK STATE 75
RICHMOND, Ky. - Eastern Kentucky withstood a 16-4 late-game run to beat the Norfolk State and advance in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT), 81-75, Tuesday night in McBrayer Arena.
The Colonels will play at home again Friday at 7 p.m. against an opponent yet to be determined. Updates will be sent out through EKUSports.com and @EKUHoops on twitter in the coming days. There is no formal bracket for the tournament. The match-ups for each round are determined after the preceding round is completed.
The Spartans (20-14) cut a 13-point EKU lead to one, 71-70, with 3:31 to go. After a drawn charge by sophomore guard Isaac McGlone, a Ja’Mill Powell three-pointer brought the lead back to four. Three scoreless minutes later, senior guard Corey Walden put the game away with an and-one layup with 47 seconds to go that pushed the Colonels’ (20-11) lead to seven.
Walden and senior forward Eric Stutz both finished with 22 points. Walden added eight assists and three steals, equaling his nation-leading average of 3.1 per game. Stutz scored 16 of his 22 points in the second half, making five of six shots.
Powell contributed 12 points to the total, all coming from three-point land. Fellow senior Timmy Knipp added 13 points, two rebounds and three assists.
Rashid Gatson, a 6-foot-9 forward, finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds to lead Norfolk State. Gatson went 10-of-11 from the field in 38 minutes.
The Spartans shot 61 percent from the field and from three-point range. NSU also totaled 44 points in the paint but had 14 turnovers, seven more than EKU. The seven-turnover difference between the two equaled EKU’s nation-leading ratio of plus 7.3.
Both teams started the game hot. Norfolk State made their first 10 shots and EKU made seven of its first eight. The Spartans went into the half shooting 68 percent from the field.
The 81 EKU points were well above the 68.5 average Norfolk State had given up per game this season. EKU also added nine steals. EKU’s largest lead was 14 with 12:33 to go in the second half.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 97, OAKLAND 91
ROCHESTER, Mich. - Eastern Illinois won its first postseason game as an NCAA Division I school on Tuesday night with 97-91 win at Oakland in the opening round of the 2015 CollegeInsider.com Tournament (CIT). EIU held on for the win after leading by as many as 17 points late in the second half.
EIU improved to 18-14 and will find out its second round CIT opponent later in the week. Oakland finished the season at 16-17 as EIU snapped an 11-game home winning streak by the Golden Grizzlies in the O’rena.
Oakland and Eastern Illinois traded baskets early with Dante Williams providing offense for Oakland while the Panthers had a balanced offensive attack.
EIU took its first lead with 8:22 to play in the first as Trae Anderson hit a 3-pointer giving EIU a 22-20 lead. It was one of nine first half 3-pointers hit by the Panthers as they shot 50 percent (9-of-18) in the opening 20 minutes. EIU finished the game shooting 15-of-31 from beyond the arc.
The Panthers extended the lead to eight points as Dylan Chatman converted a three point play and knocked down a 3-pointer with 7:06 to play as Chatman had nine first half points. The senior finished with 17 points.
Chris Olivier pushed the lead to ten points and following a Williams 3-pointer for the Golden Grizzlies Reggie Smith again gave EIU a ten point lead at 38-28 with 4:33 to play. Williams had 15 first half points for Oakland finishing the game with 19 points.
Oakland closed the half on a 13-4 run as EIU led 42-41 at the half. Nick Daniels gave Oakland back the lead with 1:47 to play. Trae Anderson gave EIU the lead back with a jumper with 38 seconds left and Anthony Johnson scored the final EIU basket of the half.
EIU continued to apply offensive pressure in the second half as EIU finished the game shooting 55 percent. The Panthers extended the lead back to double figures on a Josh Piper 3-pointer with 16:26 to go. Kahlil Felder knocked down a pair of free throws and then Cornell Johnston answered with a floater in the lane. The OVC Freshman of the Year finished with eight points and 11 assists.
EIU stretched the lead to 17 points on a dunk by Chatman with 7:35 to play as EIU lead 80-63. Each team traded buckets before Felder took over for the Golden Grizzlies.
Felder scored 37 points to go along with 11 assists. Felder had 16 points in the final 5:53 of the game as Oakland closed to within four points on a Felder lay-up with 1:24 to play.
Smith scored six of EIU’s final eight points including four points at the free throw line. Smith led EIU with 26 points knocking down all eight free throws. Anderson added 19 points off the bench as EIU had three players score in double figures. Piper was 3-of-3 from 3-point range finishing with nine points.
Corey Petros had 12 points for Oakland.