Men's Basketball 2/9/2023 11:00:00 PM

Murray dramatic rally stuns Eastern men

Box Score By Kevin Farr
Murray State Sports Information
Dramatic comebacks have been part of the Murray State men's basketball resume all season and was again the story Thursday night as the Aggies stunned Eastern State College, 80-79, in Wilburton.

Coach Josh Davis' squad trailed 77-69 with 1:20 remaining before closing on an 11-2 burst as they allowed just two free throws to the Mountaineers in the waning minute to cap the furious rally.

Freddie Cooper scored seven points in a row to ignite the Aggies, who appeared dead in the water earlier in the second half after surrendering a 16-point lead. Cooper's steal and layup with 1:18 left narrowed the margin to six and a conventional three-point play just 14 seconds later cut that deficit to only four.

Cooper added two free throws before Eastern connected on one of two at the charity stripe with 34 seconds left that proved to be the hosts' final point. Cordrayius Graham with an off-balance driving layup and got the ball back on a steal with 13 seconds to play.

Graham was fouled with 6.1 seconds remaining and gave Murray State its final lead with two charity tosses. The Aggies still had to sweat out the finish as Eastern missed two free throws with one second left as they improved to 10-15 on the season and avenged a narrow loss in the earlier meeting.

Cooper fueled the Murray State offense with 24 points as five Aggies all hit double digits. Graham tallied 14, T.J. Gardner added 11 as K.J. Boone and Kameron Johnson finished with 10 apiece. Tarrance Austin also contributed eight with Ridley Shema scoring three.

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Players Mentioned

#50 Kameron Johnson: Forward; 6' 7"; Freshman

#22 Freddie Cooper: Guard; 6' 3"; Freshman

#20 Tarrance Austin: Guard; 5' 9"; Freshman

#14 Ridley Shema: Forward; 6' 7"; Freshman

#1 Cordrayius Graham: Guard; 6' 1"; Sophomore

Players Mentioned

#50 Kameron Johnson
: 6' 7"; Freshman
: Forward

#22 Freddie Cooper
: 6' 3"; Freshman
: Guard

#20 Tarrance Austin
: 5' 9"; Freshman
: Guard

#14 Ridley Shema
: 6' 7"; Freshman
: Forward

#1 Cordrayius Graham
: 6' 1"; Sophomore
: Guard