CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo.-Two blocked shots and a tip in of a missed shot prevented Austin Peay State University from completing an improbable comeback, Thursday night.

Trailing by as much as 17 first-half points, Austin Peay rallied to take the lead but could not close out the comeback as Southeast Missouri ended the game on a 6-0 run to defeat the Governors, 65-60, in Ohio Valley Conference action at the Show Me Center.

The loss snaps the Govs' five-game w inning streak as they fell to 8-14 overall and 5-4 in the OVC. The second-place Redhawks are now 6-2 in the OVC and 11-9 overall.

Austin Peay scored just two points in the first five minutes and found itself down 24-7 with 9:08 left in the half before mounting a comeback. In fact, that comeback saw the  Govs leading 60-59 with 1:41 left. That's when point guard Jerome Clyburn drove the basket only to have his layup attempted blocked by Redhawks' senior forward Leon Powell.

After the Redhawks turned the block into a fastbreak layup-and the lead-by Marcus Brister, Clyburn attempted a similar drive to the left side of the basket for the go-ahead bucket, only to have it blocked this time by sophomore forward Tyler Stone with 1:20 remaining.

After SEMO missed a pair of short lane jumpers, they couldn't prevent Powell from gaining the second offensive rebound and putback to give SEMO, a 63-60 lead with 38 seconds left.

An offensive foul prevented the Governors from cutting into the deficit with 22 seconds left before Lucas Nutt helped put the game out of reach for SEMO by connecting on a pair of free throws with 21 seconds left.

SEMO dominated the boards, out-rebounding the Govs 50-26 as both Redhawks inside players Stone (12 points/18 rebounds) and Powell (11 points/11 rebounds) recorded double-doubles.

For a second straight game APSU's inside game struggled as John Fraley and Melvin Baker each had eight points, making a total of five field goals. Baker played just 16 minutes because of foul troubles, eventually fouling out with 7:21 left. Will Triggs came off the bench to 11 points, including 11 free throws.

However, in this game, the backcourt was unable to bail out the Govs. Josh Terry had 18 points while TyShwan Edmondson added 10, but on 3-of-13 shooting.

The Govs shot just 34.6 percent (18 of 52) from the floor and combined with the rebounding woes, it proved to be a disastrous formula. The only thing that really kept the Govs in it was SEMO's 23 turnovers, which led to 23 points.

-AP-