CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. ? Austin Peay State University men's basketball team won its fifth straight game and improved to 5-0 in the Ohio Valley Conference with a 71-55 victory, Saturday night, in Dave Aaron Arena.

The win also improves the Govs to 9-6 overall. Meanwhile, Jacksonville State falls to 2-11 overall, 0-5 in the OVC.

The final score, however, was not indicative of the game's closeness.  APSU built an early 20-9 lead and then frittered much of it away with Jacksonville State cutting the advantage to two by halftime, 32-30.

The visitors even took the lead early in the second and stayed within striking distance until the final 2 ½ minutes. In fact, the Governors scored the game's final 11 points.

Drake Reed led the Governors with 17 points and 10 rebounds, his second straight double-double. Fernandez Lockett and Derek Wright each added 13 points.

The Govs grabbed a season-high 40 rebounds and committed a season-low four turnovers to help offset 41.7 percent shooting (25 of 60) and a untidy 50 percent (14 of 28) performance at the free-throw line.

Jacksonville State was led by freshman Nick Murphy, who scored a game-high 20 points. In fact, he scored the Gamecocks first 11 second-half points. No other JSU player scored in double figures.

- AP -