MARTIN, Tenn. — (ESPN Clarksville) That was a close one. Austin Peay State University men’s basketball team weathered a power outage, several UT Martin onslaughts and a last-gasp shot at the buzzer to prevail in a 72-70 slugfest at the Elam Center, Saturday.
The hard-fought win keeps Austin Peay (12-5, 4-0 OVC) unbeaten in Ohio Valley Conference play, while UT Martin (5-10, 0-4) once more emerged as a hard-luck loser after surrendering late leads against both Southeast Missouri and Eastern Illinois last weekend.
Once more, Jarrett Givens provided an early spark for Austin Peay, sinking four early three-pointers as the Govs raced out to a 16-11 lead, expanding it to 24-16 with less than 11 minutes to play in the half. Early returns had the Govs handling this contest as well as they had in their previous three league outings.
Then the power went out. With 8:01 remaining in the half, at 3:59 p.m., a bank of lights went out in the Elam Center. Shades of last season’s home finale against Murray State ensued as coaches, officials and administrators worked to restore power and debated the best way to move forward. Twenty-four minutes later, the ball was in play once more.
Play might have resumed, but it was clear the Govs were off-put by the delay. However, Jabari McGhee took over late in the half, scoring eight of Austin Peay’s final 13 points to send the Govs into the break with a 41-38 lead.
The second half was a war for the Governors, who never trailed but also never led by more than five points. Every time the Skyhawks got within a possession, another Gov would step up with a bucket. Often it was sophomore Terry Taylor, who scored 12 of his game-high 20 points in the second half; five of his six second-half buckets came in answer to a UT Martin field goal to make it a one- or two-point game.
In games like this, it’s imperative for upperclassmen to come up big in the big moments and Austin Peay was fortunate to have a pair on hand late. After a Quintin Dove dunk at the five-minute mark once again drew the Skyhawks to within two, senior Chris Porter-Bunton willed his way into the paint and sank a jumper.
With 55 seconds to go another senior, Zach Glotta, sank a three to take a one-point game to a four-point game and then Porter-Bunton sank two crucial free-throws with 16 seconds to play—the last of his 13 points on the day, with nine coming in the second half.
Following Porter-Bunton’s freebies, Kevin Little drove the length of the floor unabated and dished to Dove for a lay-up to make it a two-point game again; the Govs then missed two free throws to give the Skyhawks a glimmer of hope, but Taylor met Little at the rim this time and blocked his shot to secure the Austin Peay victory.
Austin Peay shot 58.0 percent (29-of-50) from the floor and UT Martin shot 43.3 percent (26-of-60). That should be enough of an explainer in itself, but it’s crucial to note how much of Austin Peay’s success came at or near the rim; the Govs scored 44 points in the paint, compared to just 26 for the Skyhawks, as Austin Peay controlled the interior on both ends of the floor.