MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – Chris Horton scored a career-high 23 points while fellow sophomore Zavion Williams came off the bench to add 21 to lift Austin Peay State University to a 78-72 win against Montana State, Saturday night, in the final game of Central Michigan tournament.

In completing the tournament 1-2, the Govs' victory evened their mark at 3-3 while Montana State fell to 1-4.

Horton, whose previous high was 21 against Oakland City a year ago, came up huge in the second half against the Bobcats when APSU overcame a three-point halftime deficit to forge as much as a 12-point second-half advantage. He scored 13 second-half points and in one stretch, with APSU up by just four points, 55-51, Horton scored seven of APSU's points in a 9-2 run.

He finished the game with 10 of 14 from the floor while also grabbing nine rebounds and blocking four shots. He was named to all-tourney team for his weekend efforts.

If it wasn't Horton it was Williams who provided the scoring lift. Coming off the bench for the second straight game, he opened the second half as the Govs' two-guard—replacing the struggling Travis Betran—instead of playing his normal point guard slot, He scored 13 second-half points and finished the night with a pair of three pointers while also going 11-of-14 at the free-throw line.

Keying it all was the frenetic offensive and defensive pace of Damarius Smith, like Williams a Clarksvillian who is playing for his hometown team. Starting a point guard for the second straight night, Smith filled up the stat sheet with 16 points, nine rebounds and six assists.

The Govs led by 10 points with 2:09 left but untenable 2-of-8 free-throw shooting opened the door as Montana State cut the deficit to three points on a Marcus Colbert three pointer with 26 seconds left cut the deficit to three, 75-72.

APSU coach Dave Loos elected to get his strongest free throw shooters into the game and it resulted in Cory Arentsen splitting the defense in the backcourt and finding his wide-open roommate Preston Herring at midcourt , who eased his way to the bucket and slammed it for the finishing touches on the victory.

The Govs finished the night shooting percent (24 of 48) from the field. The 2-of-8 end at the free-throw line partially ruined what was another strong night. The Govs finished the night 27 of 42, 64.3 percent , at the line.

Colbert led the Bobcats with 17 points while Paul Egwuonwu had a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds.   

-AP-