CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. ? Austin Peay State University men's basketball team shot 50 percent from the floor while holding visiting Georgia Southern to just 38.6 percent shooting as the Governors claimed an 80-72 decision, Saturday night, in O'Reilly ESPNU BracketBuster action at Dave Aaron Arena.

The victory improved the Govs, members of the Ohio Valley Conference, to 19-10 overall while Georgia Southern, a member of the Southern Conference, falls to 20-10. The defeat snapped Georgia Southern's six-game winning streak.

The Governors never trailed in the contest. APSU jumped out to a 10-0 lead and saw the game tied only once, at 26-26 on a Julian Allen layup. But Drake Reed responded with a dunk and a rebound bucket and the Eagles never got closer than two the half's remainder's. APSU, in fact, ended the half on a 9-0 run to hold a 42-29 halftime advantage.

After a sluggish start to the second half that saw APSU's lead shrink to seven, the Govs then pushed it back to 14, fueled by a Derek Wright jumper. The advantage would grow to 21 twice in the final half as APSU shot 60 percent (12 of 20) in the final 20 minutes. The lead would stay double digits until late when head coach Dave Loos cleared his bench.

Reed bounced back from his single-digit performance against Tennessee State to score a game-high 22 points. Guards Todd Babington and Wright celebrated Senior Night by scoring 18 and 14 points, respectively, while Fernandez Lockett grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.

Defensively, not only did the Govs limit Georgia Southern to 27-of-70 shooting they forced 20 turnovers while collecting 11 steals as well.

Georgia Southern did have five players in double figures with Louis Graham leading the way with 17 points while Matthew Fields recorded a double-double with 16 points and 14 rebounds. The Eagles did hold a decisive 48-30 rebounding advantage.  

The victory improved APSU to 2-3 all-time in ESPNU BracketBuster contests.

-AP-