CHARLESTON, Ill.--Drake Reed scored a career-high 37 points, Saturday night, but it was Caleb Brown's only basket that proved to be the difference maker in Austin Peay State University's 81-73 Ohio Valley Conference win at Eastern Illinois.

With the Govs clinging to a 76-73 lead and just five seconds on the shot clock and 31 seconds left in the game, the Governors came out of a timeout knowing Eastern Illinois would direct its attention on Reed, the 6-5 senior forward who had nearly been unstoppable down the stretch. When Reed covered, senior guard Kyle Duncan, standing underneath the goal, rifled an inbounds pass to a wide open Brown in the left corner. He took his time and delivered a three-point shot that all but ended Eastern Illinois' hopes.

The victory was Austin Peay's fourth straight and its third consecutive road victory as the Governors improved to 5-2 and 2-0 in the OVC. It also was APSU head coach Dave Loos' 300th Austin Peay win, making him only the second coach in league history to collect 300 wins. Cal Luther recorded a combined 319 victories at Murray State and UT Martin.

EIU, meanwhile, fell to 2-5 overall, 1-1 in the OVC.

Brown's three-pointer were the only points not scored by Reed in the final 3:54. In fact, Reed scored 11 points down the stretch as he helped the Governors answer Eastern Illinois' second-half run. The Panthers trailed by as much as 16 second-half points and, with T.J. Marion leading the way, sliced the lead all the way to two, 67-65, with 4:26 left before Reed displayed his veteran leadership down the stretch. Reed answered four straight Panther buckets with four of his own before Brown's three pointer stymied the Panther hopes. Reed, who finished 15 of 22 from the floor, recorded his previous scoring high (31) at Arkansas State. Nov. 11, 2006.   

With both Panther leading scorer Romain Martin and inside force Ousmane Cisse both getting into first-half foul troubles, the Governors took control and led by as much as 15 points before settling for a 12-point 44-32 halftime advantage. Reed had 15 points while Wes Channels added eight and freshman Anthony Campbell came off the bench to add seven, including a pair of three pointers. The Governors shot 57.1 percent (16 of 28) in the first half.

However, the Govs could not maintain that type shooting in the second half--APSU shot just 40 percent in the final half--while Eastern Illinois knocked down 14 of 26 shots.

Campbell, returning to the gymnasium where he earned holiday tourney MVP honors a year ago, finished with 12 points, including a key late three pointer. He also had seven rebounds, one behind Reed. Channels ended with 11 points and a team-best four assists.

Marion led EIU with 20 points while Martin ended with 18.

Austin Peay, which was outrebounded by two in the first half, finished the game with a 33-28 rebound margin.

The Governors will take time off for finals this week before playing at No. 11 ranked Louisville, noon, Saturday.

-AP-