MURFREESBORO, Tenn.?A tired Arkansas State's road win streak came to an end on Thursday as Middle Tennessee played just well enough to claim a 77-68 win over the Indians.
ASU (7-11, 2-2) fought hard for the entire game with limited help but simply couldn't grab key rebounds and keep control of the ball down the stretch as the Blue Raiders (8-6, 1-1) won the seventh straight time in the series. But the Indians didn't go down without a fight.
The Indians trailed by two at 58-56 when Dereke Tipler connected on a jumper just inside the foul line to tie the score at 58 apiece at 7:52. But tired legs caught up with ASU as the Indians went nearly seven minutes without a field goal before Jim Jones connected on a 3 from the top of the key. By then, the Blue Raiders had extended the lead to 10 at 75-65 with just under a minute left to play.
ASU got into the game after sluggish start with good shooting, hitting 50 percent from the floor in the first half. ASU came out hot in the second half to whittle a 35-27 halftime deficit to one with 16:11 left in the second half when Lorenzo Hampton scored a bucket, making the score 40-39.
Neither team could establish any long runs afterward as ASU continued to keep the score close. MT upped the lead back to seven with 12:54 left when Adam Vogelsburg scored two of his game-high 19 points.
The Indians responded with a pair of 3's from Jones and Isaac Wells to cut the lead back down to a single point with 11:27 left. After a pair of free throws by MT's Kyle Young pushed the score to 52-49, Wells hit another of his four 3's on the night, this one from deep in the corner, to tie the game at 52 with 10:44 remaining. It was the first time for the score to be tied since the 4:06 mark in the first half.
Wells scored 18 and had seven rebounds for the Indians on the night while Marcus Ardison posted his second career double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds. Jones score 15 and had five rebounds before fouling out while Hampton added 11 points.
The key stats to the game were MT's ability to control the offensive glass while ASU had 20 turnovers, many unforced. Marcus Morrison had five offensive rebounds for the Blue Raiders and as a team MT ended the night with 17 while outrebounding ASU from the floor overall, 41-31.
The loss snapped ASU's two-game road winning streak with one more road game upcoming against Western Kentucky before getting a break and returning home. Tip-off for the game against the Hilltoppers on Saturday is for 7:00 p.m.
