MURRAY, Kent. (11/26/07) ? Adrian Banks came alive in the second half to score all of his team-high 18 points and fuel a furious rally by Arkansas State (1-4), but the Indians weren't able to overcome an 18-point halftime deficit as Murray State (3-1) held on for an 81-67 victory in a non-conference men's basketball game Monday night at the Regional Special Events Center.

ASU trailed by as much as 21 points in the second half and was down 62-44 with 8:17 remaining when it went on a 21-8 run to cut Murray State's lead to just five points, 70-65, with 2:52 left in the game.

The Racers missed a three-point attempt their next trip down the court and Shawn Morgan grabbed the rebound to give the Indians an opportunity to make it a one possession game.  However, Banks' runner in the lane was just off and Murray State grabbed the rebound to turn ASU away.

Tyler Holloway, who finished with a season-high 26 points to pace the Murray State attack, hit a lay-up on the other end of the court with 1:27 left and the Racers went on to make nine free throws over the final minute to seal the win.

“I was very proud of our effort in the second half,” said ASU Head Coach Dickey Nutt.  “We were able to come back and cut into the lead and just needed another break here or there.  We were down by five with the ball, but just weren't able to get over that hump.  But I'm proud of our guys and the way they responded in the second half.”

The Racers, which finished the first half with seven three-point field goals, connected on four shots from beyond the arc within the game's first nine minutes to jump out to a 22-6 advantage and went up by as much as 20 points twice in the first half on their way to a 40-22 halftime advantage.

Murray State shot over 50 percent for each half to finish with an overall shooting percentage of .540.  After shooting just 33 percent in the first half, ASU came back to post a .556 second-half percentage and finish at .458.

ASU finished with more rebounds than its opponent for the first time this season, pulling down 29 boards to Murray State's 25.

ASU's Ryan Wedel scored in double figures for the fourth time this season with 11 points and Yima Chia-Kur was back in double digits with 10 points for the first time since the Indians' season opener.