Murray State's Rick Jones canned seven of 11 three-pointers to lead Murray State with 23 points in Saturday's game. Cuthbert Victor also scored 23 points for the Racers. Victor was 10-of-16 from the field.

Victor and James Singleton finished the game with double-doubles. Both had 13 rebounds. Singleton finished with a dozen points.

Murray State won the battle on the boards 41-29. The Racers also shot 51 percent from the field in the game, while the Skyhawks shot 40 percent. Senior Joey Walker led the Skyhawks' attack with 17 points. Junior college transfer J.C. Howe netted 14 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Senior Okechi Egbe led the Skyhawks in the rebounding department with eight boards.

Murray State led 37-30 at the half. In the second half, the Skyhawks cut Murray State lead to four points twice. Kenan Asceric cut the lead to four, 41-37, when he hit a jumper with 14:06 to play in the game. J.C. Howe made it 45-41 with 12:23 to play as he sank a pair of free throws.

The four-point margin was as close as the Skyhawks could get. Murray State answered with a 15-1 run over the next three minutes and never looked back.

UTM Skyhawk men's basketball season came to an end in the first round of the Ohio Valley Conference tournament at Tennessee Tech Tuesday night. The host Golden Eagles overcame the Skyhawks second-half, seven-point lead to post a 76-62 victory.

The Skyhawks finish the year with a 14-14 overall record and a 7-9 Ohio Valley Conference slate. Tech (19-11) will play Morehead State in the OVC tournament semifinals Friday, March 7 at the Gaylord Entertainment Center in Nashville. Cameron Crisp led the Eagles in the first half with 18 of his game-high 25 points, but the Skyhawks fought back and cut Tech's lead to two, 37-35, at the half.

In the second half, Joey Walker gave the Skyhawks their first lead at 39-37 with 17:45 to play.

The game was tied at 39-all, but then the Skyhawks built a seven-point lead. The lead switched back and forth until Tech took control at 58-57.

Tech, which scored its last nine points of the game at the free throw line, shot 86 percent from the charity stripe and outrebounded the Skyhawks 39-25.

Walker led the Skyhawks with 19 points, while Earl Bullock tossed in 16 points. Kenan Asceric netted 10 points for the Skyhawks.

Bullock hit four three pointers in the game, and the Skyhawks shot 42 percent from the field and 29 percent from three-point range.

At the free throw line, the Skyhawks hit 10-of-13 attempts for 76.9 percent.

The Skyhawks have qualified for the OVC tournament the past four years under the direction of head coach Bret Campbell, but have not advanced past the first round in four tries. This year's loss to Tech marks the second time the Skyhawks have lost to the Golden Eagles in the conference postseason tournament. The Skyhawks have lost the four games by a total of 30 points.

The OVC tournament semifinals are set for Friday, March 7, while the championship is scheduled for 3 p.m., Saturday, March 8.

The game will be televised live on ESPN2. The OVC tournament winner will receive an automatic berth in the NCAA tournament. UTM students can get more information on tickets and ticket prices by callin Tennessee MArtin ticket manager Jenny Canary at 587-7685. Tickest will be on sale in Nashville this weekend for 22 dollars per session or for 40 dollars for a book that will admit you to all three tournament sessions.