CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. — (ESPN CLARKSVILLE) In as heartbreaking a loss as you can have to end a season, UIC’s Godwin Boahen hit a go-ahead jumper with 1.4 seconds remaining to knock Austin Peay State University men’s basketball team out of the 2018 CollegeInsider.com Tournament quarterfinals, Wednesday.
The Govs finish their first season under head coach Matt Figger at 19-15, while UIC moves on to the semifinals with a 19-15 mark as well. The loss also finishes the collegiate careers of Averyl Ugba, Tre’ Ivory and Ed Stephens.
Much of the Flames first-half offense came at the charity stripe, where the visitors hit nine of 10 attempts; away from the free-throw line, UIC’s shooting was more chaotic (38 percent from the field, 22 percent from three). And that was when they could get shots off—the Govs hassled their visitors into a dozen first-half turnovers.
On the other end, Austin Peay pounded it down low to Ugba, freshman Terry Taylor and junior Chris Porter-Bunton; with Tai Odiase, the nation’s second-leading shot blocker, beset by two first-half fouls, that trio of Govs found more room to maneuver around the paint, combining for 26 of Austin Peay’s 36 first-half points on 12-of-21 shooting.
The Govs entered halftime with a five-point lead, which quickly reached 14 points early in the second period, but the visitors were by no means finished. A 14-2 UIC run trimmed the Austin Peay lead to a single bucket by the 12-minute mark.
The tied turned in the Governors favor with single sequence by freshman Richard Henderson. On the defensive end, he swatted an attempt at the rim by UIC’s Marcus Ottey, secured the rebound and ran the floor for a twisting layup off a good look from Porter-Bunton. UIC called timeout; Henderson’s play was the pinnacle of a 6-0 APSU run to put the Govs back up by eight.
The Flames quickly erased the eight-point advantage and tied the game up with a pair of Clint Robinson free-throws at the 6:19 mark. The ensuing three-plus minutes saw a back-and-forth battle that ended in a 9-0 UIC run that saw the Flames take their first lead since the 17:41 mark in the first period on a Boahen three with 3:28 to play.
The Flames maintained the lead for the next two minutes, with a Taylor jumper bringing the Govs within a point with 16 seconds to go. On the ensuing inbounds play, Ivory tied up Ottey, stripping him of the ball and finding freshman Dayton Gumm, who was hacked on a shot attempt that would’ve put the Govs ahead. Gumm made one of two at the line to tie the game before Boahen’s last-second jumper on the following possession.