CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. — (ESPN Clarksville) Another one. That’s about all you can say about Austin Peay State University men’s basketball right now. Another opponent. Another home game. Another Ohio Valley Conference contest. Another win. The Govs broke out early and never looked back, dispatching Morehead State 81-67 in the Dunn Center to sweep the opening weekend of OVC play.
Prior to tipoff, the refs made senior Chris Porter-Bunton remove his headband, citing a violation of rules. Sufficiently annoyed at the slight, Porter-Bunton proceeded to score 11 points in the first seven minutes of play, part of a solid offensive start for both teams—the Govs hit five of their first six shots (Porter-Bunton was 4-of-4) and Morehead State (4-11, 0-2 OVC) was no slouch in the early going itself, hitting five of its first eight offerings from the floor.
While the Govs cooled slightly after their (in fairness, mostly Porter-Bunton’s) hot start, Austin Peay (10-5, 2-0) still managed to shoot a more than respectable 55.2 percent (16-of-29) for the half. Morehead State was not as fortunate; the Eagles went from pretty good to lukewarm to ice-cold, finishing the half at 29.0 percent (9-of-31) and missing nine of their final 10 shots from the floor.
Foul trouble caught up to the Govs early in the second half—by the first media timeout, Austin Peay had already been whistled for five fouls, with both Porter-Bunton and grad transfer Jarrett Givens hitting the pine after picking up their third personals.
The “next man up” mentality that has defined this team for much of the year came to the forefront once more. With two of the starters missing a large chunk of action early in the second half, it was a good opportunity for Dayton Gumm to take over, and so he did. A three-pointer from the left wing kicked off a 10-2 run, of which the sharpshooting sophomore contributed six points—he also converted an old-fashioned three-point play to increase the lead to 22 points.
Contributing alongside Gumm was grad transfer Jabari McGhee; the Albany, Georgia native scored nine points and pulled down seven rebounds in the second half alone. The Gumm-McGhee duo battled Morehead State’s Malek Green to help Austin Peay reestablish control of the boards in the second half, with Gumm and McGhee pulling down 14 of Austin Peay’s 22 second-half rebounds.
Morehead State turned up its intensity on the offensive end late, outscoring the Govs 40-35 in the second half, and Austin Peay went 3-for-13 from the floor with three turnovers from the 18:12 mark in the second half until 9:44 remained. Despite that, Austin Peay’s lead actually increased during that stretch—from 17 points at its start to 20 at its end—and the Eagles never got closer than the 14-point margin the game ultimately settled at.
As Austin Peay continues to prove impervious at home, it’s back on the road once more, this time a four-game jaunt beginning Thursday, Jan. 10 at Southeast Missouri.