Racers hang on, advance to title game

ANCHORAGE – Murray State guards Isaiah Canaan and Donte Poole combined for 43 points and forward Ivan Aska made several big plays down the stretch to help the Racers hold off San Francisco for a 70-67 victory in the first semifinal of the Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout at Sullivan Arena on Friday night.

The Racers (6-0) remained unbeaten thanks to clutch free-throw shooting, hitting 19 of 23 (.826) charities, including 7-of-7 in the final three minutes.

Guard Rashad Green scored 19 of his game-high 23 points in the second half as the Dons (5-2) almost erased a 13-point deficit.

Murray State led the entire way, taking a 30-19 lead into the locker room thanks to the play of Poole and Canaan, who combined for all of the Racers' first-half points and their first five of the second half.

USF drew within 52-48 on a layup by guard Cody Doolin with 6:36 to play, and the game remained close until the final buzzer. Trailing 61-58 with 1:12 left, USF's Angelo Caloiaro forced a steal off a full-court press that led to an easy basket for Green. The Dons continued to press on the ensuing inbounds, but the Racers broke the trap and passed upcourt to Aska, who made a layup and drew a foul. Aska, who 30 seconds earlier had hit a 30-foot, desperation three to beat the shot block, then followed with the free throw to give Murray a 64-60 edge.

Green answered quickly with a three-pointer before Canaan hit a lean-in jumper on the other end to make it 66-63. Instead of going for a tying three-pointer, Green drove the lane and drew a foul with 12.1 seconds left, converting both of his free throws. After two free throws by Long, Doolin drove the length of the court and made a layup, and Long was fouled again with 4.0 showing on the clock. Long delivered again at the line and then got back on defense to block Doolin's three-point try. Caloiaro grabbed the rebound but it was too late to get off a shot.

With the victory, Murray State advances to Saturday's 8 p.m. AST title game against the Southern Miss-New Mexico State winner, while USF falls into the 3rd/5th-place game against the USM/NMSU loser at 5:30 p.m.

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