CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Austin Peay State University's basketball team found a new way to lose Wednesday night.

Leading by four points with 2:49 left, the Governors watched Morehead State score seven points in a 31-second span as Austin Peay fell for the fifth straight time, 52-48, in Ohio Valley Conference action in Dave Aaron Arena.

The loss drops the Govs to 6-8 in the OVC and 9-19 overall. Morehead now stands at 8-6 in the OVC and 15-13 overall.

With the score tied 41-41 and 4:51 left, the Governors saw Melvin Baker give them the lead, 43-41, with a pair of free throws. Then TyShwan Edmondson came up with a steal which led to a Josh Terry layup with 3:23 remaining.

The Govs again forced a turnover and had the ball with 2:49 left. But that is when things began to unravel.  With time in the Govs favor, Herdie Lawrence attempted immediately to drive the basket and was called for a charging foul with 2:40 left, giving the ball back to Morehead State.

After Marsell Holden missed a Morehead State three, the Eagles' Drew Kelly grabbed the rebound and scored to make it a two-point game, 45-43, with 2:01 left.

On the ensuing possession, Terry was called for a flagrant 1 foul on the offensive end, not only giving the Eagles two free throws, but the ball as well. Lamont Austin tied the game with a pair of free throws.

Then the Eagles took the ball out of bounds at midcourt and Holden knocked down a long three pointer with 1:30 left. The Govs' once four-point lead was now a three-point deficit.

The Govs missed consecutive three pointers on the ensuing possession before Morehead State rebounded with 58 seconds left. APSU chose not to foul and it appeared to pay dividends when Morehead State's Holden missed a three pointer with 24 seconds left.

The Govs grabbed the rebound and Josh Terry drove the basket and was fouled. However, a night-long problem-the Govs were just 8-of-17 from the line all night-continued for the Governors when Terry missed the first of a two-shot foul. He did make the second with 18 seconds left.

The Govs were forced to foul and Austin made both free throws for a four-point game. The Govs then were unable to get off a three-point shot before committing a turnover with 4.7 seconds left.

That turnover summed up the Govs' night as they scored less than 50 points for the first time since losing to the Eagles, 68-49, last March 4 in the OVC tourney semifinals.

Melvin Baker led the Governors with 17 points, going 7-of-9 from the floor. But Baker didn't attempt a field goal in the final 7:38. He snapped a scoring slump that saw him score in single digits in each of the previous two games.

TyShwan Edmondson added 15, including a pair of three pointers. Edmondson had been held scoreless over the previous two games and didn't start Wednesday night.

Kelly led Morehead State with 11 points while Deandre Mathieu added 10.

The Governors outshot Morehead State 41.9 percent to 37.2 percent from the field. Both teams made four three-point field goals while the Govs out-rebounded Morehead State 30-29.

However, it was the free-throw line that was the difference. The Eagles were 16-of-17 (94.1 percent), making eight more at the line than the Govs in the same amount of attempts.

-AP-