CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. — (ESPN CLARKSVILLE) It was a good Saturday night for Austin Peay State University men’s basketball. Thanks to a thrilling 60-57 win against Jacksonville State (18-11, 9-7 OVC) and some movement around the conference, the Governors (16-12, 11-5 OVC) find themselves all alone in third place in the Ohio Valley Conference standings, two games clear of their closest competition after the Gamecocks, Tennessee State and Tennessee Tech all suffered losses.
The Gamecocks entered the Military Appreciation Night contest as league-leaders in points allowed per game and 19th nationally in opposing field goal percentage, but it was the Governors who put the clamps down defensively in the early going. Jacksonville State hit just one of its first 15 shots from the floor, allowing Austin Peay to take a 19-8 lead at the 7:31 mark.
Following their early doldrums, the visitors hit three consecutive shots to get on track and finished the half hitting six of their final 10 attempts. Still, the Governors were able to enter the break with a comfortable 10-point lead, with senior Tre’ Ivory drilling a three-pointer moments before the end of the half.
A 14-4 Gamecock run to open the second half completely erased the Austin Peay advantage; as poorly as Jacksonville State shot in the first half, the Gamecocks hit eight of their first 10 attempts in the second. The Govs were able to stem the tide by hitting five straight from the floor, pushing the Austin Peay lead back to eight at the eight-minute mark in the half.
The momentum swung back-and-forth down the stretch, with Jacksonville State narrowing the lead to two points on a Marlon Hunter layup and a Christian Cunningham free-throw with 53 seconds left. Close and late, the game came down to free-throws, and the Govs had Zach Glotta.
The O’Fallon, Missouri native scored six of his 11 points at the stripe, including a clutch point with eight seconds left to push the advantage back to three points. A Jason Burnell three-pointer with mere seconds to go hit the iron and the Govs earned their 11th conference win for the first time since the 2010-11 campaign.
APSU Head Men’s Basketball Coach Matt Figger talked about the win. “We needed it. It was a do-or-die situation for us; we knew we were all jockeying for position. I didn’t think we played very well against Tennessee Tech and we did a much better job of keeping Jacksonville State from getting to their spots. We got the lead and made it hard on them; give them a lot of credit, they’ve been to the NCAA Tournament, they’ve got guys who know how to win and they’ve got a lot of resolve,” said Figger.