Racer road win streak comes to end in Dayton

Murray State saw its school-record road winning streak end at 16 Saturday with a 77-69 loss to Dayton at UD Arena in Dayton, Ohio.
The loss dropped the Racers to 10-2 and snapped one of the more remarkable runs in program history.
MSU lost in a true road game for the first time since the final game of the 2010-11 season at Missouri State on March 15, 2011, in the National Invitation Tournament.
The span between losses was 647 days.
MSU’s 16-game road winning streak was the longest in NCAA D-I in the last two seasons and a record in 88 seasons of Racer basketball.
Murray State was the only undefeated road team in nation last season at 13-0 and this season had reeled off wins at Lipscomb, Evansville, Arkansas State.
Isaiah Canaan led the way for MSU with 20 points, while Ed Daniel added 17 points and his seventh double-double with 13 rebounds.
Leading 41-36 at the half, MSU scrapped and held off the home team until the final 4:30 when Dayton scored a quick 10-0 run in less than a minute to take a 67-60 lead with 3:40 remaining.
The Racers’ last lead was on Dexter Fields’ fourth three-pointer of the game at 60-59 with 4:32 remaining, but the Flyers ended the game on an 18-8 run to move their record to 9-3.
The first half featured six ties and 10 lead changes. MSU had dunks on their first three possessions and led 6-2. UD had a 14-10 lead at the 13-minute mark.
Canaan hit nine straight free throws in the opening half and helped the Racers to a 38-34 lead on a long three at the 2:23 mark.
Another three from Fields seconds later and MSU had their largest lead of 41-34 and MSU eventually led the Flyers 41-36 at the half.
MSU was 22-of-55 from the field for 40 percent, while the Flyers managed 45 percent on 25-of-56 shots.
From the three-point line MSU was 9-of-27 for 33 percent, with the Flyers coming in at 47 percent on 9-of-19 shots.
The Racers won the rebound battle 35-34 with Stacy Wilson adding seven to Daniel’s 13.
The Racers now take some time off for Christmas before returning to the CFSB Center to host Valparaiso on Saturday in a game televised by ESPN3. The game will be the first for the Crusaders in Murray Only one game has been played in the series, a 1999 game in St. Louis at the Hoop & Quill Classic which was won by the Racers 78-58.
NOTES: The road loss is the first in two seasons for MSU Head Coach Steve Prohm. The Racers’ next road challenge is their Ohio Valley Conference opener at UT Martin on Jan. 3. ... Canaan’s school-record for consecutive games making a three-point basket is now 21. Teammate Stacy Wilson’s streak ended at 10 games. ... Canaan made three three-point shots vs. the Flyers and now has 243. He’s chasing Frank Allen for the MSU career record with 251 from 1989-93.

Published in The WCP 12.27.12

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