EVANSVILLE, Ind. - First-year Belmont men's basketball coach Casey Alexander's favorite number must be three.
Tyler Scanlon scored 17 points, including a layup with three seconds remaining, to give top-seeded Belmont a 76-75 victory over second-seeded Murray State on Saturday night in Ohio Valley Conference tournament title game.
Belmont (26-7) won its third OVC tournament crown and an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. It was also the third consecutive time these teams have met in the league final. Murray State (23-9) had won the previous two.
"It was a heck of a game played by two really good teams," Alexander said of the meeting of the regular-season co-champs. "I'm glad we had the last possession."
Nick Muszynski scored 25 points to lead the Bruins and was named the tournament MVP, Adam Kunkel added 16 points and Grayson Murphy had 10 for the Nashville program.
Tevin Brown scored 17 points for Murray State (23-9), and Demond Robinson had 14.
Brown hit two free throws to put the Racers up 75-74 with 11.5 seconds to play. After timeouts for both teams, Kunkel passed the ball to Scanlon cutting under the basket for the winner.
"It was a play we practice all the time," Scanlon said. "With all that preparation, in the final moment there were no nerves. It was second nature and just execution."
Belmont's biggest lead was eight points and Murray State's seven in a battle with eight lead changes and seven ties. Belmont had a 48-38 advantage in points scored in the paint.
"Our players executed a lot of good actions. We made some big shots and big 3s in the second half," Alexander said. "It was a meaningful win."
It was a physical, fast-paced and close game from the opening tip. Belmont led 25-17 with 6:33 remaining in the first half, but the Racers answered with a 14-3 run. Brown scored on a three-point play to give Murray State its first lead, 31-28 with 1:52 remaining in the first half.
A basket from Muszynski and a Kunkel 3-pointer gave Belmont a 33-32 advantage at the break.
"When you grow up dreaming of playing and coaching college basketball, there are games like this you want to be in," Murray State coach Matt McMahon said. "It is disappointing we could not get the one stop at the end."
Skyhawks lose in OVC women's final
Tesia Thompson had 25 points and a season-high 14 rebounds to help Southeast Missouri beat No. 1-seeded University of Tennessee at Martin 67-47 in the OVC women's tournament final.
Third-seeded Southeast Missouri (25-7) advances to the NCAA tournament for the second time in program history and for the first time since 2007. UTM, the regular-season OVC champion, earned an automatic berth to the Women's National Invitation Tournament.
Taelour Pruitt made two free throws 66 seconds into the game to make it 2-1, and the Redhawks led the rest of the way. Thompson made a short jumper to close the first quarter and spark an 8-0 run that gave Southeast Missouri a 23-9 lead when she made a layup early in the second. UTM trailed by double figures the rest of the way.
The Skyhawks (22-10), who beat Southeast Missouri 78-72 in the regular-season finale, had their seven-game winning streak snapped and lost for just the second time since Jan. 23. UTM's only loss during that span was at Southeast Missouri, 71-69 on Feb. 13.
Chelsey Perry scored 15 points and Maddie Waldrop added 12 for the Skyhawks, but they were just 10-for-33 from the field.
UT Martin shot 33% overall, went 0-for-11 from 3-point range and made just 11 of 22 free throws. The Skyhawks did not make a 3-pointer, the first time since Feb. 3, 2009, they have gone an entire game without hitting a shot behind the arc.