The Murray State Racers beat visiting Belmont this evening 79-74. Murray State rolled to a 14 point first half lead and then held off a furious second half comeback by the Bruins.
"I'm proud of our guys," MSU head coach Steve Prohm said. "Belmont hasn't lost many but outside of the Kansas game when they've been down they've made a flurry of 3-pointers and they've caused trouble just like they did tonight. But Isaiah (Canaan) rose up like an All-American does and made a big shot to help us put it away."
Canaan hit a 3 with 35 seconds left to put the Racers up 77-74. He finished the game with 26 points to lead all scorers.
Belmont head coach Rick Byrd said Murray was just more excited to play than his team was.
"I think the emotional edge was in their favor," he said. "Everybody's talking about us being 10-0. We're coming in this league and beating everybody. They're the team that had been on top. There was just a natural reason for them to be a little more fired up about this game than our guys were. We've played a lot of games where it mattered more to the other team but this is just our fourth conference loss in three years."
Ian Clark led the Bruins with 22 points.
Up next for the Racers is Tennessee State. The Tigers beat Austin Peay 88-82 in overtime this evening and will bring an 8-3 record to town when they play Murray State at the CFSB Center on Saturday.
MSU guard Stacy Wilson says playing Belmont is good preparation for TSU, "They're really a lot a like. They both drive the ball and pitch it to shooters so we should be able to use some of the same things we did tonight."
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