JONESBORO (2/4/08) ?The Arkansas State men's basketball team had a chance to send its game against Middle Tennessee into a second overtime, but Adrian Banks' three-point attempt from the corner was just off with four seconds left as the Blue Raiders escaped with an 89-86 overtime victory Monday night at the Convocation Center.
ASU drops to 9-13 overall and 4-7 in Sun Belt Conference play, while Middle Tennessee is 10-11 and 7-4.
Banks, a senior from Memphis who has been nursing a high ankle sprain for the last several games, came off the bench to score 27 points, including 11 of 13 from the free throw line. He was joined by Yima Chia-Kur's 20 points and Ryan Wedel's 15 points, 11 of which were scored in overtime. Shawn Morgan added 11 points and seven rebounds.
“That is a very disappointed locker room right now,” said ASU Head Coach Dickey Nutt. “But, I'm so proud of the way we fought hard and had good individual play. Middle Tennessee is a very good team and they hit some big shots. But, we've got a lot of fight left in the dog and we'll keep swinging and fighting. There's still a lot of basketball yet to be played.”
Both teams played pretty even through much of the game until the Blue Raiders built their biggest lead of the night at seven points with 12 minutes remaining in regulation play. ASU bounced back behind Ashton Farmer's layup and a free throw which cut MT's lead to four. Morgan and Banks teamed up to find the basket to tie things up 56-all with 9:21 left.
The second half score seesawed until Middle Tennessee's Nigel Johnson hit a free throw to put his team up, 75-73. Morgan's layup with 21 seconds remaining knotted the score. Johnson raced downcourt, but Morgan rebounded his missed jumped with 10 ticks remaining before overtime.
In the overtime period, the Blue Raiders hit four of their eight attempts from the field including connecting on all three treys, while ASU could muster hitting three of seven shots. The Indians also had two turnovers to MT's none.
The Blue Raiders were led by Desmond Yates with 28 points and eight boards with Johnson adding 22 points. Demetrius Green added 13 and Theryn Hudson had 11 and eight rebounds.
“We had some very good individual play,” continued Nutt. “Kewain Gant was good inside and A.B. played well. Shawn turned his ankle again late in the game but he has a lot of energy and does a great job. We're doing a lot of good things.”
Arkansas State hits the road Feb. 7 to play South Alabama in Mobile at 7:05 p.m.
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