MURRAY, Ky. – Jonathan Stark scored 36 points to lead Murray State (11-3, 3-0) to a 89-73 win over Southeast Missouri (7-9, 1-2) Thursday night in Ohio Valley Conference action at the CFSB Center.
 
SEMO managed to lead by three points on three separate occasions in the first half. After Justin Carpenter's tip-in off a missed shot by Jonathan Dalton, MSU later pulled ahead, 33-31, with 3:03 left.
 
A conventional 3-point play by Terrell Miller, Jr. then ignited a 12-0 run to put the Racers up by double figures. SEMO turned the ball over three times during that surge which ended on a Ja Morant tip-in as MSU took a 45-31 lead with 41 seconds remaining.
 
Milos Vranes snapped SEMO's drought with a 3-pointer and the Redhawks headed into the locker room down, 45-34.
 
Freshman Ledarrius Brewer knocked down three 3-pointers and led SEMO with 11 first-half points. The Redhawks shot 54.5 percent (6-of-11) from downtown in the opening stanza.
 
SEMO cut MSU's lead to eight three times in the first 7:44 of the second half. Brewer threw down a dunk off a Daniel Simmons miss to make it a 59-51 game with 12:16 to go.
 
That, however, would be the final single-digit lead for the Racers.
 
A personal foul and two technical fouls by SEMO led to six-straight free throws, including four by Stark and two by Jalen Dupree, after MSU was up by 12. That stretch led to a 16-6 run as the Racers built their largest lead to 83-61 prior to finishing out the win.
 
Stark shot 9-of-16 from the field, 4-of-7 from 3-point range and 14-of-14 at the free throw line. He set a new MSU record with 39-consecutive free throws made and his 36 points marked a OVC single-game high this season.
 
Morant followed with 17 points and seven assists, while Miller, Jr. added 11 points and seven rebounds, and Dupree chipped in 10 points.
 
MSU shot 53.7 percent (29-of-54) from the field for the game and scored 23 of its points at the free throw line (23-of-30).
 
Brewer led the Redhawks with 19 points on 7-of-13 field goals, including three from beyond the arc. Denzel Mahoney scored 14 points and Vranes turned in his second career double-double with 10 points and 10 boards.
 
SEMO visits Austin Peay Saturday.