EVANSVILLE, Ind. ? Austin Peay State University men's basketball team was held without a field goal for a nine-minute late-game stretch, Saturday night, as it fell to Evansville, 72-62, in non-conference basketball action played at Roberts Stadium.

The loss drops to APSU to 4-5 overall while Evansville improves to 3-4.

Austin Peay led by as much as five second-half points and still held a 52-48 lead with 9:38 left after a Wes Channels field goal. But the Govs proceeded to go cold from the field, connecting for just one field goal the game's remainder, that being a Channels layup with 17 seconds left. In that span, APSU connected on just one-of-eight from the floor while committing three turnovers. The Governors also were outrebounded 10-3 in the final 9:38.

As a result, the Govs dropped below .500 on the season instead of collecting their first non-conference road victory.

APSU led early in the contest, building an 13-8 lead.  However, the Purple Aces then went on a 16-5 run to lead by six, 24-18. The Govs then crawled back into the contest and tied it at 31. However, Darin Granger knocked down a three pointer with five seconds left in the half to give Evansville a 34-31 halftime advantage.

The contest remained tight during the early stages of the second half before APSU built a 47-42 advantage with 11:17 left. Evansville eventually would tie it at 54 with 6:10 left and took over down the stretch.

Channels led all scorers with 18 points while Drake Reed added 14, 12 coming in the first half. Derek Wright added 13.

Granger led Evansville with 17 points Shy Ely added 16 and Nate Garner 15.

Both teams shot well from the floor?Austin Peay connected on 47.9 percent from the floor (23 of 48) compared to 48 percent (24 of 50) by Evansville. The Purple Aces, however, were more proficient from the free-throw line, making 17 of 22 compared to just 12 of 20 (60 percent) by the Govs. Evansville also knocked down seven three pointers compared to just four by the Govs.

In addition, the Governors, despite Fernandez Lockett's 12 boards, were outrebounded 31-29. It was the eighth time in nine games this season the Govs were outrebounded.

“We didn't exhibit much patience on offense,” APSU coach Dave Loos said. “We were making one or two passes and putting up a shot instead of seeing if the offense might create a defensive mistake.

“As a result, we were on defense much of the night. But at the same time, we were not very good on the defensive end. Our man-to-man was not very effective, forcing us to use zone. We are primarily a man-to-man but we were just not getting it done. We just didn't have that stinger on the defensive end tonight.”

-AP-