KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Led by a quartet of seniors, Austin Peay State University scored the game's final eight points as it stunned Tennessee, 74-70, Saturday afternoon in a non-conference basketball contest played at Thompson-Boling Arena.

It was Austin Peay's first win in nine games of the cross-state series. It also was Austin Peay's second straight win after opening the season with nine consecutive losses. Tennessee lost its third straight as it fell to 3-5 the season.

With the Governors trailing 70-66 with 2:39 remaining, senior forward Melvin Baker, on a pass from senior guard TyShwan Edmondson, responded with his second three pointer of the game at the 2:08 mark to slice the deficit to one.

After a Tennessee turnover, the Govs captured the lead, 71-70, when Edmondson threaded a bounce pass to fellow senior Josh Terry on a reverse layup with 1:05 remaining.

After Baker blocked Cameron Tatum's drive to the hoop with 51 seconds left, Edmondson continued the Govs' momentum by driving the lane and floating in a jumper with 16 seconds left, putting the pressure back on the home-standing Volunteers.

After a timeout, Tennessee was hoping to set up Skylar McBee, who had knocked down a trio of three pointers earlier, but Terry had McBee smothered while Baker blanketed Cameron Tatum, the team's other vital three-point option.

That left it up to point guard Trae Golden to fire up a three point attempt from well behind the three-point line. It bounced off the glass and Terry grabbed the rebound with 2.8 seconds remaining.

After being fouled, Terry made the second of the two-shot free-throw attempt, sealing the Govs first win against an Southeastern Conference team since the 1991-92 season when APSU downed Mississippi State in the Dunn Center.

Although Terry, Edmondson and Baker starred down the stretch, especially statistically, it was the return of senior center John Fraley that also sparked the Governors. Playing for the first time since the season opener at Middle Tennessee (concussion-related symptoms), Fraley actually scored two of the Govs first three buckets. He played 29 minutes, finished with 12 points and five rebounds.

However, his presence inside helped open things up on the perimeter as APSU shot a seething-hot 72.7 percent (16 of 22) from the floor in the second half. Fraley also had two key second-half blocks, one on a Tatum attempted dunk with 3:18 left and the Governors trailing by only two.

The Governors led early in the game but trailed by as much as 10, 36-26, in the first half before cutting it to seven, 37-30, at halftime. Tennessee bolted from halftime to lead 47-35 with 17:07 remaining and still led by 11, 64-53, with 6:27 left when Josh Richardson scored on a layup.

But Austin Peay closed the game on a 21-6 run. In fact, all 21 points were scored by Govs' seniors-Terry (9), Edmondson (7), Baker (3), Fraley (2).   

Te,rry led all scorers with 20 points to go with five assists and four steals while playing suffocating defense on Tatum, holding him to one point.

Edmondson added 19 points, including 11 in the final half while Baker, despite foul woes, tossed in 10.

The Govs shot a season-high 59.1 percent (26 of 44) from the floor, making it two straight games of 50 percent shooting after shooting below 40 percent in seven of the first nine contests.

The Governors, who were outrebounded 24-12 in the first half, including 14 offensive rebounds, actually out-boarded Tennessee in the final half 12-10 and only allowed four second-chance points.

Also, after committing 10 first-half turnovers, the Govs only committed six in the second half while forcing nine Volunteer miscues. APSU finished with 10 steals on the night.

Jeronne Maybin, virtually unstoppable in the first half, finished with 18 point and nine rebounds for Tennessee while Jordan McRae added 14 and Kenny Hall 12 along with 10 rebounds.

After taking a break for finals, the Govs will return to action, 7 p.m., Saturday, when they play host to Rochester (Mich.).

-AP-