CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. — (CLARKSVILLENOW) John Murry and Kenny Jones made the most of their final appearances on the hardwood at the Dunn Center, leading Austin Peay to a 92-84 victory against SIU Edwardsville to keep the Governors Ohio Valley Conference Tournament hopes alive.
Murry scored a game-high 25 points—his fourth 20-point night in the last five outings—while Jones contributed 20, including a timely 8-for-11 showing at the charity stripe, as Austin Peay had its most efficient shooting night of the season.
The Governors blazed out of the gate, taking a 17-point lead into halftime on the strength of the inside play—Jones (15 points) and Dre’Kalo Clayton (10) played huge roles for the Govs in the early going. But slowly, the Cougars chipped away at Austin Peay’s deficit in the second half—rather like the Governors two nights against Eastern Illinois. After struggling to crack 40 percent from the floor in the opening stanza, SIU Edwardsville hit 54.5 percent in the second half and seemed poised to push the Govs to the limit after an 18-7 run cut the lead to four with 4:54 to play.
True to form, Murry got hot at just the right moment to propel the Govs to victory. He scored 10 points over the final 4:38—the 10th time this season and third in two games he’s needed less than five minutes to score 10 points—including a back-breaking three with 1:54 to go after the Cougars had gotten within a bucket—they would not get within two possessions the rest of the way.
Austin Peay showed its proficiency in all facets on the offensive end, hitting 50.9 percent (29-for-57) form the floor, 50.0 percent (9-for-18) from three and 73.5 percent (25-for-34) at the free-throw line—the Governors first 50-50-70 game since Feb. 6, 2016 at Murray State.