The Colonels, despite finding themselves in an early deficit to Austin Peay, almost pulled off a comeback victory before falling, 82-79, Monday in Clarksville, Tenn.
Eastern Kentucky University never led as Austin Peay scored 14 of the first 17 points. Back-to-back three-pointers from Anthony Campbell then gave the Governors a 16-point lead, 29-13.
“Our guys really fought and competed tonight,” EKU coach Jeff Neubauer said. “This is the best we’ve played against Austin Peay in my four years here at EKU. I’m proud of the determination our guys showed. We were down double figures in both halves and fought back in the end.”
From there, the Colonels (7-7, 1-3 OVC) responded with a 15-2 spurt over the next four minutes to get right back into the game. Junior Josh Taylor hit two threes during the stretch, while junior Dayvon Ellis chipped in with two buckets as well.
However, the Governors (7-7, 3-1 OVC) regained momentum by scoring the final nine points of the half to take a 40-28 lead into halftime.
EKU trailed by double digits through much of the first 10 minutes of the second half before two consecutive three-pointers from freshman Joshua Jones cut the deficit to four, 60-56, with 9:22 left.
“We did have shots that we could have made,” Neubauer said. “Our efforts were tremendous and we had a great competitive spirit.”
Once again, Austin Peay bounced back with another run, scoring seven-straight points to push the advantage back to 11, 67-56.
The Colonels trailed by 13 points with 4:13 remaining before stringing together one final run. A Justin Stommes three-pointer brought EKU to within six points with 2:51 left, 76-70. Senior Mike Rose’s lay-in with 1:15 showing on the clock sliced the deficit to four points, 78-74. After an Austin Peay miss, EKU had two open three-pointers to get within one point, but could not convert.
“We did compete and give ourselves a chance,” Neubauer said.
Austin Peay finally sealed the victory with a Kyle Duncan lay-up to put the Governors ahead, 80-74, with 39 seconds remaining.
Jones led EKU with a career-high 20 points. The freshman was 6-of-9 (66.7 percent) from the floor, including five three-pointers. Taylor chipped in 15, while Stommes added 14 to the Colonel effort. Rose, the team’s leading scorer, was held to nine points and was 0-for-6 from three-point range.
“We had a lot of guys around Mike Rose contributing,” Neubauer said. “Josh Jones was really competitive. Josh Taylor was also competitive and Justin Stommes was great.”
APSU’s Drake Reed led all scorers with 31 points and was 10-for-10 at the free throw line. The Governors shot 55.1 percent (27-of-49) from the floor including 59.1 percent (13-of-22) in the second half.
EKU next returns home to face Jacksonville State on Thursday. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. in the second-part of a doubleheader with the Gamecocks.
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Austin Peay holds off Colonels
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