JACKSONVILLE, FL (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – The Austin Peay men’s basketball team went down to Jacksonville, Florida, to take on the North Florida Ospreys on Thursday night. Entering the contest, the Govs had won eight games in a row and were looking to stay one game up on Central Arkansas for the ASUN lead.
The Ospreys, meanwhile, entered the game stuck at the bottom of the conference standings. These conference foes already played once this season, back at the beginning of January.
The Govs won that first contest 102-83 at F&M Bank Arena. Coming into this rematch, it felt like we could get another offensive outburst. Before Thursday, the Govs had scored at least 90 points in the last five matchups against the Ospreys.
However, the beginning of this matchup couldn’t have been more different than the first matchup. The Ospreys came out hot and even led by as many as 16 points. At halftime, the Govs trailed by 14, but this one ended up going down to the last second.
Close game to the closing minutes
The first half started as a back-and-forth affair. Through the first six minutes, the teams were tied at 11. Neither team was hot from deep early, but the Ospreys did a good job of matching the pace and making the most of turnovers.
Eventually, in the first half, the Ospreys got hot, and the Govs remained cold. The Ospreys dominated in the final five minutes of the half and led by as many as 16. A couple of Collin Parker free throws cut the lead to 14 at the half, but the Govs were still in a big hole at the break, trailing 43-29.
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As a team in the first half, the Govs shot 28% from the field and 20% from three. Luckily, the Ospreys only shot 25% from three, or it could have been a much bigger deficit.
Whatever speech head coach Corey Gipson gave his team at the half, it resonated. Austin Peay looked much closer to the team we’ve grown accustomed to seeing and quickly chipped away at the lead.
Big man Rashaud Marshall scored nine points in the first seven minutes of the half to cut it to a four-point deficit. Finally, around the 10-minute mark, the Govs were able to tie the game on a Ja’Corey Robinson layup.
Last-second shot by the Govs
With 32 seconds to play, the Govs trailed 75-73 and called a timeout to draw up a play.
Off the timeout, Marshall was able to take advantage of a mismatch and threw down a game-tying dunk with 19 seconds to go. The Ospreys had the last 19 seconds to try and get a game-winning score, but Zyree Collins got a steal for the Govs with under two seconds to play and called a timeout.
The only problem was that the Govs didn’t have any timeouts remaining. This meant that a technical foul was assessed to the Govs, and the Ospreys were getting two free throws. Kamrin Oriol made one of the two free throws, so the Ospreys led 76-75 with just over one second remaining.
The Govs had almost no time to work with, down one with a second on the clock. Robinson, the inbounder, heaved the ball to the opposite end of the court, where it was tipped around before being grabbed by Anton Brookshire, who put it in the basket with half a second to spare.
After Brookshire’s improbable shot, the Ospreys attempted a full-court prayer of their own, to no avail. As a result, the Govs escaped with a 77-76 victory, improving to 14-1 in conference play and maintaining sole possession of first place.
Key takeaways
Brookshire’s shot will get talked about the most, but Marshall had his best game as a Gov. The big man scored a season-high 27 points to go along with a season-high 14 rebounds. This was Marshall’s second double-double of the season and his first in conference play.
Overall, the Govs outscored the Ospreys 48-33 in the second half after being outscored 43-29 in the first. Marshall, Brookshire, Collins, and Collin Parker all scored in double figures for the Govs.
Austin Peay will stay in Jacksonville for a couple more days as they prepare to take on the Jacksonville Dolphins on Saturday.
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