CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. ? Drake Reed scored 31 points as Austin Peay State University held off a determined Eastern Kentucky second-half rally to defeat the Colonels, 82-79, Monday night in Ohio Valley Conference action played at Dave Aaron Arena.
Austin Peay improved to 7-7 overall and 3-1 in the OVC, moving back into a first-place tie. Meanwhile, Eastern Kentucky suffered its fourth straight loss, falling to 7-7 overall, 1-3 in the OVC.
The Governors led by as much as 16 first-half points before Eastern Kentucky trimmed the margin to three, 31-28, on a Josh Taylor three pointer with 4:04 left in the half. However, the Governors ended the half on a 9-0 run, including two buckets by forward Ernest Fields.
Early in the second half the Governors again went up by as much as 15 points, 51-36, with 16:03 left. But Eastern Kentucky again fought back, forcing APSU turnovers and riding freshman guard Joshua Jones' three-point shot. In fact, Jones hit back-to-back three pointers within 25 seconds of each other as EKU cut its deficit down to four, 60-56.
But again the Govs pushed their lead all the way out to 13 at 72-59 with a 12-3 run, eight coming from Channels (two three pointers and two free throws) and the other four by Reed on free throws.
However, Eastern Kentucky would not fold. In less than two minutes, the Colonels made it four-point game, culminated by a Mike Rose layup with 1:15 left.
Then Caleb Brown drove the lane and dished to Kyle Duncan, who scored on a layup with 39 seconds left to all but seal it. The Govs, however, couldn't completely put away the Colonels as they made just two-of-seven free throws in the final 39 seconds.
Reed scored 18 of his points in the second half. He finished the night 10 of 13 from the floor while going 10-of-10 at the free-throw line, a game after making only 3-of-10 against Morehead State.
Channels, who scored just two first-half points, finished with 18 to go with six rebounds and a game-high six assists. Duncan added 10 points as did freshman Anthony Campbell.
Jones scored a career-best 20 points for EKU while Josh Taylor added 15 and Justin Stommes 14. EKU All-OVC guard Mike Rose, who wsas averaging 20 ppg entering the contest, was held to just nine points on 3-of-12 shooting.
Austin Peay shot an impressive 55.1 percent (27 of 49) from the floor, including 59.1 percent in the second half. But APSU attempted just 22 second-half shots because of 10 turnovers, turning into 16 second-chance second-half points.
-AP-
