DIAGONAL — A key early-season Bluegrass Conference battle swung in Murray’s favor late here Friday, as the Mustangs defeated Diagonal 45-42.
The Mustangs built an early lead before Diagonal came storming back in the third quarter to build a six-point lead.
But Murray senior Braydon Held knocked down a 3-pointer in the corner just before the end of the third quarter to draw Murray to within 31-28.
“It would have been a totally different ballgame, probably, in the fourth with a six-point lead instead of three,” Diagonal head coach Matt Warren said. “We talk about finishing out a quarter, because it’s such a huge momentum swing to see a lead get cut in half in the final seconds. Going into the fourth quarter, momentum is a big deal and they snatched it from us right at the end.”
Diagonal quickly upped the lead back to six points at 34-29 when Jacob Taylor dished to Kole Paxson for a 3-pointer of his own from the corner.
Murray responded with a 10-0 run, capped off by another Held 3-pointer to take a 38-34 lead, however.
Diagonal tied it at 38-38 when Taylor banked in a 3-pointer as he was fouled, but he missed the free throw that would have given the Maroons the lead.
Held hit a free throw and Taylor answered back with a bank shot off a drive, giving Diagonal the 40-39 lead.
Trey McHenry got an offensive rebound and putback, and then sank two free throws to put Murray up 43-40 with :33 left in the game.
Taylor dished to Kade Means, who banked in a shot from the post to cut the lead to 43-40 with :14 left. Held then sank two free throws with :12 remaining to give Murray a 45-42 lead.
Taylor had a shot to tie the game just before the buzzer, but the shot came up short and he didn’t get the foul call he was looking for, as Murray ran out the clock on the 45-42 win.
“It was an absolute dogfight all the way until the end,” Murray head coach Darin Wookey said. “We caught them on an off-shooting night. That was obvious. We hit a couple of threes. Braydon Held hit the big one in the corner here and we had the one from the top of the key. Those were two of the biggest shots in the ballgame. Then hitting those free throws down the stretch, those were big.”
Diagonal shot just 27.7 percent from the field and only 16 percent (4-of-25) from behind the 3-point arc. The Maroons also missed three free throws within the final 4:48 of the game.
“We have to focus on the things we can control,” Warren said. “We had a poor shooting night and that’s on us. I thought going in, it’s going to be a hard-fought battle. It was going to come down to this. Few bounces go your way, and you’re a heck of a lot happier.”
Murray had three players finish in double figures scoring, led by McHenry’s 13 points and six assists. Thane Simmons finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds, while Held added 11 points. Bryce Keller scored five points with a game-high 14 rebounds.
In total, Murray outrebounded Diagonal 42-27.
Taylor led Diagonal with 16 points, as Blake Butler and Means each chipped in 11. Paxson scored five points.
“We’ve got a lot of young guys who are trying to learn the game,” Wookey said. “And tonight, I thought they took a step forward.”
Murray improved to 2-0 for the season with the win, while Diagonal dropped to 2-1.