CHARLESTON, Illinois — (ESPN CLARKSVILLE) For the first time since 2010-11, Austin Peay State University men’s basketball picked up its 10th victory in Ohio Valley Conference play, knocking off Eastern Illinois in a 76-69 slugfest at Lantz Arena.
With the win, the Govs (15-11, 10-4 OVC) maintain their spot in the third place in the league. The Panthers fall to 9-16, 5-9 in league play. A host of Govs contributed to the 41-30 lead Austin Peay took into the break.
Although senior Averyl Ugba led the way with 10 first-half points, he was buoyed by the efforts of Dayton Gumm and Steve Harris—each of whom scored eight first-half points on a combined 7-of-9 shooting—and freshman Terry Taylor, who tipped in a Gumm miss with time running out to give the Govs momentum into the break.
The Panthers fought back in the second half, pushing the Govs to the wire. After pushing the lead back to 10 points with 8:20 to go after a three-pointer from Chris Porter-Bunton, a quick 12-4 Panther run, punctuated by a Mack Smith three-pointer, his sixth of the evening, brought Eastern Illinois back to within a bucket at the 3:37 mark.
Porter-Bunton gave the Govs breathing room again down the stretch, answering Smith’s three pointer with a layup on the next possession, then a three-pointer with 2:08 to go. It was Austin
Peay’s final make from the floor, as Eastern Illinois was forced to foul the rest of the way; the Govs went 6-of-8 at the charity stripe to close the game out.
The Difference
Ball control. Austin Peay committed a season-low eight turnovers in the contest, posting an assist-to-turnover ratio better than 2-to-1 for the second time in three games. The Panthers mustered just nine points off turnover, the fifth time this season an Austin Peay opponent scored less than 10 points off Governor miscues.
The Govs picked up 17 assists on the day, led by senior Tre’ Ivory with seven, one off his career high (Oakland City, Nov. 15, 2017); they’re averaging 16.6 assists as a team over the last five contests.