By ANTHONY SHINGLER | Assistant Sports Editor

When rivals APSU Govs and Murray State meet it is almost guaranteed to be a tough physical game and Saturday, Feb. 6, it was just that. But this time, there was a controversial call that decided the ending. With 4.1 seconds remaining, APSU sophomore center John Fraley nailed two free throws that tied the game at 63-all. MSU’s Issac Miles drove up the court, and hit a jump shot at the buzzer that put Murray State up 65-63.

After the initial call from the official declaring the bucket good, they would go to the replay monitor to see if the ball left Miles’ hand before the buzzer.

APSU assistant coach Scott Combs was able to see the replay which led him to believe the ball was still in Miles’ hand when the backboard lights lit up.

The referees conversed and called the shot good, that providing Murray State their 13th straight victory and a 22-3, 13-0 in the OVC. The Racers are No. 1 in the conference standings.

“I didn’t see the video (of the shot),” said APSU head coach Dave Loos in a video interview with The Leaf Chronicle. “There were too many people around there (the replay monitor).”

The controversial loss snapped APSU’s four-game winning streak, dropping them to 14-11 overall, 8-5 in the conference standings.

APSU currently sits in fourth place in the conference, only trailing Eastern Kentucky, Morehead State and Murray State.

The Govs led much of the first half, and took a 33-30 lead heading into halftime.

The second half the Govs led or tied the score for 19:08 before MSU would take the lead. APSU would lead by as many as six, 49-43 with 10:28 remaining in the half on a layup from Duran Roberson.

MSU tied score, 61-61 on a three-point play from Miles, after a Wesley Channels foul on his layup that was good with 2:19 remaining.

MSU then took their first lead of the second half, on another Miles layup, 63-61, with 92 seconds remaining.

After a missed free throw attempt by Miles on a foul after his layup, the Govs would tie the game back up from after Fraley’s free throws when the controversy started.

“It’s disappointing, because I thought our kids deserved a better outcome than that,” Loos said.

“They played so hard and did a good job. We had our chances and didn’t get it done. But I couldn’t ask for any better effort than what they gave.”

MSU’s Danero Thomas led all scorers with 23 points and 11 rebounds. MSU also had Tony Easley and B.J. Jenkins finishing in double digits with 12 points and 10 points respectively.

Anthony Campbell was the only Gov to score in double figures with 20 points. Channels who had an uncharacterstic night, served his first single-digit game since the Marian game earlier than season, had eight points for the night. He was 3-of-8 from the field, but 2-of-3 from beyond the arch.Roberson also chipped in eight points each.

The Govs shot 20-of-45 from the field (44.4 percent), while going 7-of-15 (46.7 percent).

The Govs were out-rebounded by MSU 42 (20 offensive, 22 defensive rebounds) to 24 (six offensive, 18 defensive rebounds).

“They played so hard and did a good job,” said Loos. “We had our chances and didn’t get it done. But I couldn’t ask for any better effort than what they gave.”

The Govs return to action on Saturday, Feb. 13, at the Gentry Center to take on Tennessee State University with a 7:30 p.m. tip-off. The Govs will play host to Jacksonville State, Monday, Feb. 13 at home with a 7 p.m. tip-off.

Visit Murray State Athletics Web site.

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