Men's Basketball 11/3/2023 11:28:00 PM

Second half surge fuels Aggie upset of Richland

Box Score By Kevin Farr
Murray State Sports Information
TISHOMINGO – After being saddled scoreless and in foul trouble much of the opening half, sophomore spark plug Tarrance Austin came off the bench with 11 points in a huge run after intermission to spur Murray State to an 81-63 upset over 11^th ranked Richland College on Friday night at Beames Fieldhouse.

Austin combined with freshman Isaiah Lewis in the big heroics, as the Los Angeles native pumped in 10 points as well, as the Aggies erased a 34-33 halftime deficit to take a commanding 65-50 advantage with just under 10 minutes remaining.

"Richland has one of the best coaches in the nation and a tremendous program, and they will be one of the toughest teams we play all year," said Aggie head coach Josh Davis. "The way we won it in the second half and the way we battled, I was super proud of the guys. Both Austin and Lewis are great leaders for us. Tarrance is like the heart and soul of our team and it showed we were missing him when he was in foul trouble in the first half. They came through with big plays to put us in front."

Murray State led much of the first half behind the scoring punch of R.J. Chatman but watched the visiting Thunderducks steadily cut into as much as a seven-point Aggie lead with seven minutes left. The visitors rallied to go in front by three before a Rustin Coffey bucket late in the half narrowed the gap to just one point.

Lewis wasted little time in drilling a three-pointer 12 seconds into the second half, putting Murray State back in front to stay and showing an omen of things to come.

Austin then went to work, scoring six points in an 8-0 Aggie burst, and then adding six in a row again after Richland climbed back within three points.

With the double-digit cushion, Murray State again turned to its defense and rebounding as 6-foot-8 freshman Ignas Juscevicius made the defensive glass his personal playground down the stretch, finishing the night with a double-double.

"I am so proud of Ignas," Coach Davis added. "He did such a great job for us on the boards in the second half. We knew coming in this was going to be an absolute dogfight and our guys rose up to the challenge."

Four Aggies reached double figures fueled by 19 from Lewis. Austin tallied all 17 of his points after intermission while Chatman tossed in 15 and Juscevicius contributed 12 along with pulling down 10 rebounds. Ezekiel Williamsonbey pumped in seven points, Coffey and Emery Eberhard had four apiece with Stanley Harley notching three.

Murray State will put its early 2-0 record on the line Sunday, facing Blinn College at 4 p.m. in the Mitchell/Mullen's Elite 8 festival at the Mabee Center in Enid, Oklahoma.

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Players Mentioned

#4 Stanley Harley: PG; 6' 0"; Sophomore

#5 Tarrance Austin: G; 5' 10"; Sophomore

#33 Emery Eberhard: F; 6' 7"; Sophomore

#14 Rustin Coffey: G/F; 6' 6"; Freshman

#1 Isaiah Lewis: G; 6' 2"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#4 Stanley Harley
: 6' 0"; Sophomore
: PG

#5 Tarrance Austin
: 5' 10"; Sophomore
: G

#33 Emery Eberhard
: 6' 7"; Sophomore
: F

#14 Rustin Coffey
: 6' 6"; Freshman
: G/F

#1 Isaiah Lewis
: 6' 2"; Freshman
: G