Freddie Cooper’s lay in with 1 second remaining capped a furious second half rally to lift Murray State to a dramatic 71-70 men’s basketball victory over Paris Junior College Monday night at Beames Fieldhouse.
The Aggies’ hopes of avenging a 30-point loss to the Dragons just five days earlier appeared to be on life support with just under three minutes to play and trailing the visitors 68-59. But head coach Josh Davis’ young squad would not be deterred.
A.J. Richard came off the bench with four points and a steal to ignite the comeback before Dayten Holman connected on a free throw and fed Riley Shema for a corner trey with 1:17 remaining to cut the deficit to 68-67. Holman then countered two Paris free throws with a pair of his own with just 51 seconds left that made it a one-point game again.
Murray State followed with another huge defensive play when Cooper deflected the ball away and set up the Aggies’ final possession with 26 seconds to go.
After working the clock down, Richard found Cooper all alone under the basket and he banked it off the glass and in for his first points since the opening half. Moments later, Cooper also intercepted a desperation pass toward the Paris goal to preserve the victory.
The Aggies threatened to break the game open in the first half, building as much as a 10-point cushion on the strength of six three pointers. Paris however closed to within 35-32 at intermission.
Murray State maintained a narrow lead up to the 12:28 mark of the final half as the Dragons gradually increased that margin to nine before the final Aggie rally in the closing 2:34 of the game.
Holman led an incredibly balanced offensive attack for the Aggies with 11 points, six rebounds and six assists as Cooper and Kameron Johnson posted nine points apiece. Brian Fuery tossed in eight points, K.J. Boone and T.J. Gardner each had seven with Stanley Harley, Shema and Cordrayius Graham all pitching in five. Richard ended with four and Jackson Lawley notched one point.
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