TROY, Alabama — (ESPN Clarksville) Once more, Austin Peay State University men’s basketball team had to shake off a slow start and rally to force overtime on the road.

But for the Governors, this one turned out a little differently as Austin Peay (3-4) persevered to defeat Troy (3-4) in a gutty 79-74 victory at Trojan Arena for the Governors first true road victory of the season.

A disconcerting recurring theme of late has been getting off to a slow start and Thursday night was unfortunately more of the same. Although Steve Harris hit 50 percent from the floor in the first half and Zach Glotta knocked down a pair of important three-pointers, it was first half defined by largely by defensive exploits. Both teams combined to hit just 21-of-67 (31.3 percent) from the floor and 15 first-half turnovers, although a late Trojan run handed the hosts a 31-24 lead at halftime.

The second half was an entirely different story. Both teams stepped up their shooting over the next 20 minutes and the Govs ripped off a 17-7 run to open the half, with Terry Taylor—held scoreless in the first half—accounting for eight of those points, the last off a three-pointer to give the Govs their first lead since the 14:50 mark of the first half.

Troy answered and the teams engaged in a wild back-and-forth that saw both snatch the upper hand at various times. A 6-0 Trojan run turned an Austin Peay lead into a five-point deficit at the eight-minute mark, but a Glotta three-pointer halted a four-minute scoring drought and soon the Governors had tied the game again.

Down three with 1:49 to go, Porter-Bunton took over, sinking two lay-ups and hitting two free-throws as the Govs went up five with under a minute remaining. But Darian Adams converted a three-point play for the Trojans and Javan Johnson collected a putback dunk with six seconds remaining to tie the game up. A Harris floater drew iron and the Govs were once more headed for overtime.

Glotta got the period off to a good start with a three, and after the teams traded buckets throughout the extra session, another Glotta long ball with 30 seconds remaining put the Govs back up a bucket. A missed Troy three was rebounded by Dayton Gumm, and the sophomore converted 3-of-4 at the line late to put the game away for the Govs.

The final game of the road trip comes to an end Saturday as the Govs face Alabama A&M in Huntsville, with tip off scheduled for 6 p.m.