CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. — (ESPN Clarksville) Add another chapter in the rivalry. Austin Peay State University men’s basketball team staged a furious late-game comeback but it fell short by the thinnest of margins in a 73-71 decision that saw archrival Murray State survive by the skin of its teeth before an ESPN2 audience, Thursday night.
Austin Peay (18-8, 10-3 Ohio Valley Conference) suffered just its second defeat in the Dunn Center this season, while visiting Murray State (20-4, 11-2 OVC) remains tied atop the conference with Belmont.
The opening minutes were a track meet, befitting an Austin Peay team that loves to run and a Murray State squad piloted by a likely lottery pick in Ja Morant. Austin Peay charged out to an 11-6 lead thanks to a trio of three-pointers—two from Zach Glotta and another from Terry Taylor.
The Racers rallied to not only take a lead but grow that lead to nine points with just over minutes remaining in the half. But the Govs would cut that lead to three with 90 seconds left in the half on a 9-3 run highlighted by back-to-back buckets from Chris Porter-Bunton. However, Morant beat the first-half buzzer to send the visitors into the break with a five-point, 40-35 advantage.
Early in the second half, the Racers would increase their lead to 10—the first double-digit lead of the night for either team—by going on a 7-0 run after Taylor opened the half with a hook in the lane. A Porter-Bunton runner would stop the slide and an Isaiah Hart three would cut into the lead, but the Racers would keep a mid-size lead through the early minutes of the second half.
A pair of free-throws from Jarrett Givens at the 6:04 mark cut the deficit to seven. A minute later, Porter-Bunton swished a three and suddenly it was GAME ON in the Dunn Center. Morant followed with two free throws and a jumper, answered by a pair of freebies from Porter-Bunton to make it a six-point Austin Peay deficit at the final media.
Jabari McGhee had a chance to halve the deficit with 2:42 to play but the free-throw portion of his and-one opportunity rolled off. However, a Darnell Cowart charge on the other end—his fifth foul—and a KJ Williams miss on the front end of a one-and-one allowed Taylor’s floater to bring the game to within a bucket with 90 seconds left.
Williams atoned for his miss on the following Racer possession, collecting a Morant miss and putting it in to double the Murray State lead. The following possession ended in a Governor miss, but Murray State’s Morant was out of bounds when he grabbed the ball, restoring possession to the Govs and allowing Porter-Bunton to collect his 19th and final point of the night on a jumper in the lane to cut it to two.
On a Morant miss and Racer tip out of bounds, the Govs collected possession again. Steve Harris took the inbound and raced over halfcourt to call timeout with 13.3 remaining. On the in-bounds, Harris dribbled around the top of the key and swung to McGhee, who kicked over to Glotta. The senior got a look and fired; Harris collected it under the glass and went back up, but—reminiscent of a certain OVC semifinal in 2016—his putback was right at the buzzer and the refs went to the monitor. Harris’ putback was waved off and the Racers escaped with a win.
No time to hang one’s head after this one. The Govs left bright and early Friday morning for Morehead State, where they will square off against the Eagles in a 3:35 p.m. (CT) contest, Saturday.