The Utah Valley Men’s Basketball Team secured its third win of the season on the road, defeating the Murray State Racers 77-75 in a late-night thriller.
Utah Valley, recently coming off a heartbreaking loss to North Dakota on the road, had a week off before traveling to Murray, Kentucky to take on Murray State.
In its first-ever meeting between the two in school history, Utah Valley took care of business in dramatic fashion that came down to the wire.
Just five seconds remained on the clock when Dominick Nelson made a move towards the rack, rose up for a floater that rolled off the rim, and Tanner Toolson was able to tap it back in lifting the Wolverines over Murray State.
Four players ended the game in double figures including Carter Welling’s 19 points, leading all scorers. Hayden Welling also had himself a night scoring 11 points on an efficient 5/7 shooting.
The Welling brothers continue to show out, combining for 30 points on the night.
Nelson ended with 15 points and reeled in nine rebounds while Ethan Potter did his part scoring 10.
It was a slow start from both teams, Murray State was first to open the scoring at the 17-minute mark but Utah Valley responded with a 10-1 run getting off to an early 10-3 lead.
Hayden Welling got after it early, scoring nine straight points for the Wolverines connecting on four of his first four shots.
The Racers responded with six points of their own which all came at the stripe as Utah Valley found themselves in early foul trouble which led to Carter Welling and Treven Leonhardt to foul out down the stretch.
Murray State shot 33 free throws only converting 22 while UVU made 12-of-16.
The Wolverine’s lead got up to 11 with six minutes left to go, but the Racers closed out the half on a 12-6 run cutting the lead to five.
Coming out of the half, Murray State picked up right where they left off scoring eight straight points giving them their first lead of the game 37-35.
Both teams went back and forth for the remainder of the half as neither team took more than a three-point lead until Carter Welling’s vicious slam dunk and 3-point shot gave the Wolverines a 67-63 lead with four minutes left to play.
Murray State responded fairly quickly but Utah Valley was able to score back-to-back buckets down the stretch giving them a four-point lead with 44 seconds left.
Murray State’s Kylen Milton knocked down a miraculous 3-point shot in the corner while getting fouled as he converted a four-point play with 28 seconds to go in the game.
After a timeout from Todd Phillips, the Wolverines settled to take the final shot as Toolson crashed the boards after Nelson’s shot finding himself at the right place at the right time to tap it back in for the win.
Utah Valley improves to 3-1 on the season and hands Murray State its second loss of the season as they fall to 3-2.
The Wolverines now get set to head on the road to Birmingham, Alabama where they will be participating in the Samford Thanksgiving Invitational and take on West Georgia in the first game.
Game time is set for 2:00 P.M/ MT on Tuesday, Nov. 26, and will stream live on ESPN+.
