CLARKSVILLE, Tenn.-Southeast Missouri connected on an Ohio Valley Conference record 20 three pointers, including its first eight, as it rolled past Austin Peay State University, 108-81, Thursday night in Ohio Valley Conference action in Dave Aaron Arena.

The loss was the Governors third straight and dropped them to 7-23 overall and 3-12 in the OVC. SEMO, meanwhile, evened its overall mark at 15-15 while improving to 7-8 in the OVC West.  SEMO is locked into the No. 6 seed in the upcoming OVC tournament in Nashville.

Austin Peay has been victimized by poor starts at times this season, but nothing compared to Thursday night. The Redhawks had the Governors down 7-0 a little more than 1 ½ minutes into the game and with Corey Wilford and teammates unconscious from the perimeter, the Redhawks led 34-12 before missing their first three pointer with 10:11 left in the half.

The Redhawks finished the half with 13 three pointers and led the Govs 65-30 at intermission. Wilford connected 6-of-7 first-half three pointers while Nick Niemczyk came off the bench to nail 4-of-5 in the half.  In fact, the 13 first-half three pointers tied the APSU opponents' record for threes in a game.

Wilford's first three pointer in the second half broke the Dunn Center opponents' mark and then Niemczyk's three pointer with 12:47 broke the facility mark of 16, set first by the Govs against Morehead State in 1991 and then later tied against SEMO and UT Martin in 1997.

Jared White's three pointer with 1:51 left broke the OVC mark set by Jacksonville State against Tennessee Temple in the 2007-08 season.

Wilford finished with 26 points, his eight three pointers tying the Dunn Center opponent mark for individual three pointers made. Tyler Stone added 20 as the Redhawks placed six players in double figures as Niemczyk finished with 19 points. Forward Nino Johnson had a double-double with 12 points and 14 rebounds while point guard Lucas Nutt failed to score but dished out nine assists.

SEMO finished the night shooting an astonishing 20 of 33 (60.6 percent) from three-point range while overall shooting 66.7 percent (40 of 60).  SEMO recorded an impressive 31 assists on its 40 field goals, an almost unheard of 78 percent of its field goals came by an assist.

Travis Betran, who had 30 against the Redhawks in the team's first meeting, finished with 26 points while Chris Horton added 12. Will Triggs added 11 as did Thomas Greer off the bench.

The Govs played without senior forward and second-leading scorer Anthony Campbell, who was unable to play nursing a tender left knee. Freshman Cory Arentsen started in his place.

-AP-