Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Middle Tennessee
Arkansas State
Knight brothers post career-highs in Blue Raiders' loss to Arkansas State
1/3/2013 10:53:00 PM | Men's Basketball
JONESBORO, Ark. - Tweety Knight's 3-pointer at the buzzer propelled the Blue Raider men's basketball team into overtime at Arkansas State, but it was the Red Wolves who prevailed with a 66-60 win on Thursday night at the ASU Convocation Center.
Tweety Knight finished with a career-high 12 points and grabbed six rebounds, while his brother, Marcos Knight, also poured in a career-best 23 points and neared a double-double with nine boards. The duo also combined for five assists and five steals. Shawn Jones and Kerry Hammonds each added seven points, and Hammonds collected a career-high seven rebounds.
The contest was a seesaw affair throughout, featuring 20 lead changes and 14 ties, four of which came in the final 3:19 of the game. Tied at 47, the Red Wolves converted four straight free throws to take the lead with 1:22 to go. After a Raymond Cintron miss, Tweety Knight pulled down an offensive board and dumped it off to Marcos Knight for the layup to cut the deficit to two with 55 seconds remaining. A miss at the opposite end and another Tweety Knight rebound gave the Blue Raiders another shot, but Marcos Knight's 3-pointer missed and MT fouled immediately with four seconds to play. Ed Townsel missed the first of two and the Blue Raiders called a timeout before Townsel sank the second to give ASU a 52-49 lead. Tweety Knight drove the ball down the court and pulled up for a long three, draining just his fourth triple of the season to send the game into overtime.
The Red Wolves took control in overtime. After JT Sulton knocked down a pair of free throws, ASU went on a 7-0 run and held MT without a field goal for nearly three and half minutes in the final stanza. The Blue Raiders pulled within two with a minute to play, but ASU knocked down four free throws in the final minute to seal the victory.
MT (11-4, 3-1 Sun Belt) shot 32.2 percent from the field compared to ASU (9-5, 3-2 SBC) shooting 38.9 percent. The Red Wolves owned a slight advantage on the boards, 43-42, while turnovers were even at 16. The ASU bench became the first this season to outscore the MT bench, 30-20.
Brandon Peterson led the Red Wolves with 15 points and nine rebounds, while Marcus Hooten added 14 points.
The Blue Raiders continue their road swing on Saturday with a 7:05 p.m. contest at South Alabama.
