NASHVILLE, Tenn. – After trekking some 4,800 miles crisscrossing the country over the past 2 ½ weeks, Austin Peay State University men's basketball team will voyage just 55 miles down the road to Nashville, 2 p.m., Sunday to conclude its five-game road trip to face Lipscomb at Allen Arena.
The Governors enter Sunday's game hoping to build a little momentum as is prepares for a six-game home stretch. APSU is coming off an 80-70 Wednesday loss at North Florida, the defending Atlantic Sun champs and preseason favorites. The Bisons also reside in the A-Sun.
For APSU, Chris Horton is coming off one of his finest APSU performances, scoring a career-best 28 points to go with 17 rebounds—his NCAA-best ninth double-double. Horton is now ranked second nationally in rebounding (13.5 rpg) and is first in offensive rebounds (6.09 orpg).
But the Governors received no other double-figure scoring performances in losing its second straight and falling to 1-3 on the road swing. In fact, until APSU head coach Dave Loos went with a young lineup—excluding Horton—over the final seven minutes did the Govs showed much offensive cohesiveness The former prep teammates (Warren County Central, Bowling Green, Ky.), redshirt freshman Chris Porter-Bunton and Jared Savage, each had nine points while point guard reserve Zach Glotta, operating from the two-spot, finished with eight. Those performances could warrant the trio more playing time moving forward.
Starting perimeter players Khallil Davis and Josh Robinson, who entered the game averaging double figures, respectively, combined for just 3-of-17 from the floor. They will need return to form against a Lipcomb team attempting to gain traction after losing 89-86, Thursday, at Tennessee State. The Bisons are 4-10 overall and have lost all four previous contests (two to Belmont, one each to Tennessee Tech and TSU) to Ohio Valley Conference foes.
Lipscomb also is attempting to overcome the loss of second-leading scorer Josh Williams, who suffered a season-ending knee injury against Princeton. Guard J.C. Hampton is coming off a 25-point effort against TSU and is averaging 15.1 ppg overall while Nathan Moran added 16. Meanwhile, freshman Garrison Mathews came off the bench to score 15 points. The guard-oriented club is like North Florida in it is not bashful from the perimeter—the Bisons already have attempted 395 three pointers, more than twice as many as the Governors.
After facing Lipscomb, Sunday, the Govs will conclude pre-Christmas play against Wofford, 7 p.m., Tuesday, in Dave Aaron Arena. It will be APSU's first home game of December.
-AP-
