Murray State clenches the first NCAA Tournament berth by beating the Belmont Bruins 68-51.

Murray State took revenge on Belmont, who had won the last two times the schools met in the OVC title game in 2013 and 2015. The Racers have extended their winning streak to 13, the longest in the nation after Michigan State lost to Michigan in the Big Ten semi-finals earlier Saturday.

Senior, Jonathan Stark finished with 24 points along with freshman, Ja Morant’s 15 to help push the Racers past the Bruins Saturday night.

Belmont led 32-29 at halftime after trailing 12 points at the start of the game. The Bruins went on a 15-2 run in the last 6 minutes of the first half to take the lead.

The Racers made a 16-3 run in the last 7 minutes of the match to put it out of reach. Shaq Buchanan connected on a 3-pointer with 3:23 remaining to increase the lead to 62-49. Murray’s state made seven 3-pointers and shot 43.8 percent from beyond the arc in the second half.

With the win, the Racers (26-5) became the first team to qualify for the NCAA Tournament. They are advancing for the first time since 2012 and will wait to learn their seeding on Sunday, March 11th.