RICHMOND, Ky. – The Murray State men's basketball team held Eastern Kentucky to 21 points in the second half enabling the Racers to notch a 62-45 win Thursday night in McBrayer Arena. The victory was the seventh straight for Murray State (17-5, 14-2 OVC) while the Colonels (10-13, 7-8) dropped their fourth consecutive game.

After missing his first career game at Eastern Monday night, senior Jason McLeish bounced back to lead all scorers with 16 points. Sophomore Darnell Dialls was one rebound shy of a double-double (10 points, nine rebounds).

For Murray State, Keith Jenifer connected on 6-of-10 (60 percent) shots from the field to finish with 15 points while Justin Orr added 13 points and seven rebounds.

Junior Julian Mascoll ignited the crowd of 3,100 fans right before halftime with a dunk to even the score at 24-all heading into intermission. A free throw by senior Matt Witt then gave Eastern a slim 30-28 advantage with 15:06 remaining in the contest. However, Murray responded with an 11-0 run to take control of the game. The Colonels were forced into four turnovers and only attempted two shots in the scoreless drought.

After senior Alonzo Hird netted an old-fashioned three-point play to get EKU back within six points, 39-33, the Racers rolled off 10 more points to end any thoughts of an Eastern victory. Murray State held the Colonels to 21.1 percent shooting (4-of-19) in the second stanza and Witt (18.9 ppg) to a season-low six points.

Eastern Kentucky concludes its three-game home stand on Saturday, Feb. 11, against Southeast Missouri. Tip time is scheduled for noon. Murray State plays at Morehead State on Saturday at 7:45 p.m.