The Govs and Lady Govs were in double-header action against Murray State on Saturday, Feb. 2. The Govs were coming into this rivalry game on a five-game losing streak and looking to get a victory over fierce rival, the Murray State Racers. Both the Govs and Lady Govs lost. \
In past games, like the meeting these two had in early January, the games always came down to the wire and this game was no different. The Govs came out strong taking a commanding 10-point lead off of turnovers and defensive rebounds. The Racers caught up with the Govs and took the lead right before the end of the first half.
The first half lived up the hype of a Murray State and APSU match up with a one point difference at halftime. The Racers took over making four of their first six shots and pulling out to a nine-point lead. The Govs pulled back and both teams continued their first half battle and traded baskets and the lead.
The game was tied with ten seconds left, and it came down to one shot by Junior Travis Betran that missed hard off the side of the backboard and it sent the game into overtime tied 63-63. The Govs were going into overtime without one of their lead scorers and lead blocker, Chris Horton and Chris Freeman. The Govs kept hanging around in overtime but, Murray State pulled away to get the win 68-75.
The Lady Govs, just coming off their first OVC victory against Jacksonville State on Monday, Jan. 28, had a little momentum and were looking to notch another OVC victory against Murray State. Coach Carrie Daniels, the head coach for the Lady Govs, said that their main focus for this game is “having consistency, confidence and intensity.” Early in the game the Lady Govs exhibited all of those as they came out to grab an early lead against Murray State.
Although Murray managed to climb their way back in it, the Lady Govs were not going to tone down their aggressive offense and defense. Murray was pulling away late in the first half, but the Lady Govs kept it close at halftime, only down by six. In the second half, the Lady Govs came back and took the lead and after that, both teams were fighting for the lead.
The second half was good for the Lady Govs leading scorers Meghan Bussabarger and Leslie Martinez scoring 16 and 11 points in the half. As well as freshman guard Tiasha Gray who had eight points and two assists after not scoring the first half. The Lady Racers made many key free throws that allowed them to separate from the Lady Govs and hand them a loss with a score of 61-65.
