Aces unable to overcome rough start against Racers

Murray State takes 78-61 win at Ford Center

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Opening the game on a 23-1 run, Murray State fended off a second-half challenge to defeat the University of Evansville men’s basketball team by a score of 78-61 on Sunday afternoon inside the Ford Center.

Leading the way for UE was Marvin Coleman II.  He scored 13 points on the way to his fourth double-figure scoring effort in the last five games.  For the second game in a row, Gabe Spinelli set his career scoring mark.  After recording 10 on Thursday at Indiana State, Spinelli tallied 12 against the Racers.  Yacine Toumi and Antoine Smith Jr. recorded 11 apiece.

“We have to be ready – this is the Missouri Valley Conference.  It is competitive and physical,” Aces head coach David Ragland said.  “They (Murray State) were more aggressive and committed to getting defensive steps at the start.  We responded better after 10 minutes but you cannot spot that many points to a good team like Murray State.”

Five Racers scored in double figures with Justin Morgan leading the way with 15 points.  Jamari Smith and Rob Perry scored 14 each.  Perry hauled in a game-high eight boards.

Another rough start for the Purple Aces saw them fall behind by a 15-0 score.  Murray State hit 7 of their first 10 field goal attempts.  Evansville scored its first point at the 14:04 mark when Antoine Smith Jr. hit a free throw to halt a 23-1 start by MSU.  Following five more Racer points, UE ended an 0-9 start to the day when Antoine Smith Jr. hit a layup.  Smith hit another basket with 11 minutes left in the half to make it a 25-6 game.

Evansville’s defense improved at that time, forcing eight consecutive misses by the Racers.  Unfortunately, the offense could not get close the gap before MSU got rolling once again.  With five minutes remaining in the half, the Racers took their largest lead at 34-9.  UE closed in the final minutes as Sekou Kalle and Yacine Toumi converted 3-point plays before Marvin Coleman II hit a triple to complete the first half.  His shot cut the deficit to 41-21 at the break.

Kenny Strawbridge Jr. and Smith connected on triples in the opening minutes of the second half with the Aces cutting the gap to 14 points (49-35) as the 15-minute mark.  Unfortunately, Murray State countered with a 12-3 run as they would push the lead back out to 23 points.

Despite the deficit, the Aces continued to battle back.  Inside of the 3-minute mark, a pair of free throws by Toumi made it a 71-59 game.  His points capped off a 19-8 stretch.  UE was unable to get closer as MSU completed the game with a 78-61 win.  The Racers finished the game shooting 47.5% with UE wrapping the day up at 39.2%.  With 36 rebounds, Murray State won that battle by five.

With his 12-point game, Spinelli set his career-high for the second game in a row.  After opening the season with a total of seven points in the first six games, he has averaged 6.4 points over the last nine outings.

“Coach Ragland has helped me a lot and the game is slowing down for me a little bit,” Spinelli explained after the game.  “At the end of the day, I want to be there in any way that the team needs me in order to get some wins.”

Next up for UE is a trip to Missouri State for a 7 p.m. game on Wednesday evening.