That trey gave the Racers a 63-60 advantage over the visiting Skyhawks, which combined with two free-throws by Jarvis Williams, just before time expired, helped the Racers to a 65-62 win. The closest margin of victory in their now 17-game win streak.
That last minute of the contest was the most eventful one, starting with Sapp’s 3, UT-Martin took the ball right back down and answered with a quick basket to pull within one, Murray, on their last full possession, tried to stretch the lead back three but had the ball stolen with 32 seconds to go. Sophomore Guard Cameron Payne, put an exclamation point on the game by blocking a Deville Smith layup that would’ve given Martin the lead, and Willams was fouled trying to recover the block and was sent to the stripe with just 4 seconds left. The Skyhawks desperation 3-pointer went wide, giving the Racers the win.
Payne, who in the first half became the second fastest player in Murray State history to score 1,000 points, and the 41st Racer to achieve that mark all-time, wasn’t much of a factor in the second half, hitting 1-7 from the field, but hit all 4 free throws to finish with 16 points on the night.
Sapp, the 6’3” senior guard from Ft. Lauderdale, was the Racer’s best weapon on the night, shooting 8-11 from the floor, and adding a pair of free-throws to finish with 20.
The Racers escaped with the win despite a dismal shooting performance, 41% from the floor on 56 shots, and hitting only 6-18 from three-point range.
Fatigue may have been a factor as the Racers were coming off a hard-fought overtime victory Thursday night against EKU, playing their second game in 3 days. They should have plenty of time to reflect and recover as they don’t play again until Thursday night when SEMO comes to the bank to be the next to attempt to end the Racers winning streak. That game tips-off at 7pm.
