Dr. Pepper Classic – Sunday Games
by Bill Kintner
Belmont pounds Murray State
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Down 9-0 and eventually 27-3, the Murray State Racers got spanked for second straight game as they fell to Belmont 84-67 in the third place game of the Dr. Pepper Classic.
Although the final score shows a 17-point loss, this game was never in question as the Bruins scored the first basket on a layup by Shane Dansby and never looked back.
A tough Bruin defense held Murray State (5-6) to just 37.5 percent (9-24) shooting in the first half and just 14.3 percent from 3-point land (1-7). Murray State started out just 1-9, as Belmont was hitting 8-13, including 4-7 from 3-point range.
Belmont’s Matthew Dotson led the way in the first half with 15 points and Justin Hare scored 12 points to put Belmont (8-6) up 47-23 at the half.
“I like the fact that we were ready to play. It has been in issue that bad starts have put us in holes that we could not dig out of,” said Belmont coach Rick Byrd. “That is really what happened to Murray, they could dig out after being down 27-3. I feel good about the weekend, I thought our team played harder and better than we had been playing.”
In the second half Belmont substituted freely and Murray got hot on the offensive end of the court. The Racers started the second half on an 11-2 run to cut the Bruins’ lead to 15 points at 49-34 with 15:02 left, and that was as close as Murray State would get in the second half.
Murray State shot a blazing 66.7 percent (16-24) in the second half, while Belmont shot 50 percent (12-24) in the second half just like they did in the first half.
Murray State coach Billy Kennedy thought his guys were more committed in the second half, which led to their better showing.
“Our guys just made a commitment to play the way they need to play. We went back to the guys who have been starting for us the last few games. Bruce Carter and Kevin Thomas came in and did a good job,” said a tired Kennedy.
Belmont’s Justin Hare led all scorers with 19 points. Dotson put in 17 points and Dansby scored 16 points.
Carter led the Racers with 18 points and seven rebounds.
Wright State wins the Dr. Pepper Classic
Sometimes time seems to stand still, and tonight for Wright State coach Brad Brownell the game clock just seemed to be frozen as Chattanooga rained a blizzard of 3-pointers over the last 47 seconds to erase a 25-point lead and get within three points before losing the championship game 87-82.
In the first half Wright State (8-3) came out on fire, going on a 34-5 run to take a 34-7 lead at the 10:20 mark. The Raiders were led by Troy Tabler’s 14 points (5-7) and Vaughn Duggins’ 13 points (5-6). They shot 64.3 percent (18-28) and 62.5 (10-16) percent from beyond the 3-point line.
“Duggins made shots over our hands and Brown made shots,” said Chattanooga coach John Shulman. “They are a methodical basketball team that beat Butler 43-42. We tried to speed them up and they make shots. If the shots don’t go in, it looks good; they go in, end of game.”
Chattanooga (8-5) got the deficit down to 16 points at 50-34 at the half by making four 3-pointers and shooting a respectable 47.8 percent (11-23).
Then Wright State came out to start the second half with a 16-7 run to get their lead to 66-41 with 13:04 left. The Raiders were cruising to victory until the 2:33 mark, when the Mocs went on a 24-10 run.
You read that right – it was 34 points scored by both teams in less than three minutes. It was led by five 3-pointers by Stephen McDowell and a total of six out of eight in that 2:33 time span.
Brownell thought that being on the road against a team down by a lot with nothing to lose contributed to the big Mocs’ comeback.
“It is hard to play with a big lead like that on another person’s court. Everyone thinks it is really easy. The other team is playing a little bit looser because they are already down. You have to be careful not to be a little bit tentative,” explained Brownell. “Where we really won the game was in the second half, I think we defended well, especially the first 5-7 minutes.”
The Raiders were led by Duggins’ game-high 22 points and Todd Brown’s 21 points. Troy Tabler ended the game with 16 points and Jordan Pleiman put in 14 points and grabbed eight rebounds for the Raiders.
All-Tournament Team
Shane Dansby, Belmont
Scottie Wilson, Wright State
Kevin Goffney, Chattanooga
Vaughn Duggins, Wright State
Nicchaeus Doaks, Chattanooga
Most Outstanding Player: Todd Brown, Wright State
