The MTSU men’s basketball team faced another chapter in their rivalry with Western Kentucky University on Feb. 28. The Blue Raiders fell behind early, 39-17 at halftime, but in the second stanza, MTSU rallied to cut the Hilltopper advantage to four, 44-40 with 12:15 left in the game.

“(Montarrio) Haddock played well, Kevin (Kanaskie) finally made a couple of shots that helped our comeback, and Calvin O’Neil drove the ball the well,” MTSU head coach Kermit Davis said. “Then we got it down to four or six. Then we had guys shooting balls at the wrong spots.”

That would be the closest MTSU got, because WKU pulled away for the 69-48 win in the regular season finale.

Junior Montarrio Haddock led MTSU with 13 points; Kanaskie and junior Calvin O’Neil each had 10.

Before the game, three Blue Raider seniors were honored: Nigel Johnson, Demetrius Green and Kanaskie.

Kanaskie finished his college career as the MTSU all-time leader in starts (105), assists (485), minutes (4,078), and games played (124). According to Davis, Kanaskie played the last six weeks of the season with two fractured vertebrae in his back.

The series started way back during the 1914-15 season, and the two squads have played a total of 121 times with WKU winning 91 of the contests.

The Feb. 26, 2004, match-up between the two teams set an all-time Murphy Center attendance record (11, 807) with the Blue Raiders pulling out a 73-59 victory. MTSU has only defeated WKU once since that meeting.

At the 2009 Sun Belt Conference Tournament in Hot Springs, Ark., WKU clinched its second title in a row and advanced to the NCAA Tournament, while MTSU’s season came to an end in the quarterfinals by losing to North Texas.

Blue Raider junior Desmond Yates was named to the All-Sun Belt first team.