NASHVILLE, Tenn. ? Austin Peay State University men's basketball team committed a season-high 22 turnovers in its 73-69 Ohio Valley Conference loss at Tennessee State, Monday night. The Govs fall to 18-10 overall with a 14-4 league mark and were unable to clinch outright the OVC regular-season championship. The Tigers improve to 12-15 overall with a 9-9 league record.

The Govs shot just 30 percent (7-of-23), including 0-of-9 from the perimeter, in being outscored 40-27 in the second half. Tennessee State made its deciding run after a three-pointer by Reiley Ervin with 11:36 to play, giving the them a 51-49 lead. From there, the Tigers capitalized on Austin Peay's poor field shooting to build a 12-point, 67-55, lead with 6:05 to play. Senior Derek Wright's layup with 3:37 left cut it to seven points, 69-62.

Sophomore Ernest Fields then scored five straight points after a free throw by Gerald Robinson, to make it 70-67 with one minute to play. After Bruce Price went 1-of-2 at the free-throw line, Wright would make another layup, but it was not enough. A failed offensive possession by the Govs led to TSU's final trip to the line, where Andre Belton hit one shot, to set the final margin.

Austin Peay finished shooting 40.4 percent (21-of-52) from the field, led by senior Todd Babington's game-high 21 points. Babington had 20 points in the first half. Wright added 16 points and six assists, while Lockett scored 11 points with seven rebounds.
Robinson led TSU with 17 points, while Jerrell Houston added 13, Price 12 and Ervin 10.

Babington hit six three-pointers in the first half, helping the Govs to a 42-33 halftime lead. In fact, his first three gave Austin Peay its first lead, 5-4, with 16:43 to play. The Govs would build that lead to seven points, 20-13, after a three pointer by sophomore Kyle Duncan, before Tennessee State would make its first run.

The Tigers went 4-of-6 at the free-throw line during a 10-3 run that evened the score at 23-23 at the 7:31 mark. Austin Peay closed the half on a run of its own, sparked, of course, by a Babington three-pointer that made it 32-28 with 4:36 until the break. A jumper by Houston and a three-pointer by Price sandwiched a Babington three-pointer and closed out TSU's first-half production. Wright and Babington then hit back-to-back threes, followed by Babington free-throw to cap the Govs 10-5 half-ending run.

- AP -