CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Shon Robinson tallied career-highs in points (27), field goals (10), field goal attempts (16), free throws (7), free throw attempts (13), and steals (6), and Austin Peay State University totaled 12 dunks in a 98-74 win over Milligan on Monday. The Governors, who have won four of their last five games in the Winfield Dunn Center, were victorious in their seventh-straight home opener.
Austin Peay (1-2) won its sixth-consecutive contest against the Buffaloes and improved to 11-1 at home and 20-6 all-time in the series. The Governors scored 98 points for the second-straight year against Milligan (1-2) and have totaled at least 98 in the last five meetings.
Austin Peay recorded four dunks in the first half, including the first two buckets of the game. A Sean Durugordon offensive rebound and putback was followed by a Robinson offensive board and two-handed flush, his first of four in the game. Back-to-back slams by Durugordon and Caleb Stone-Carrawell gave the Governors their first double-digit advantage, 30-20, with 6:56 left before halftime. A 12-0 Austin Peay spurt in a 3:53 span gave Nate James' bunch its largest lead of the period, 42-22, at the 2:46 mark.
The Governors led 50-34 at intermission on the strength of 65.2 percent (15-of-23) shooting inside the arc and a 55.6 percent (20-of-36) clip from the floor. Robinson led all scorers with 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting in the paint and a 5-of-6 clip from the charity stripe. All 11 of Durugordon's points in the contest came in the first 20 minutes after going 5-of-8 from the field, including a perfect 4-of-4 inside the arc. Ten of Stone-Carrawell's 12 points came in the first half after shooting 4-of-5 from the floor and 2-of-3 from deep.
Stone-Carrawell and Elijah Perkins each had three of their team's 11 steals in the first period.
Austin Peay registered eight dunks in the final 20 minutes, with three coming from Robinson and two apiece by Jalen Ware and Kelechi Okworogwo. The Governors led by no less than 13 and by as many as 29 in the final period when Drew Calderon canned a trey to end his team's 16-2 run and make the score 98-69 with 1:21 to go. Austin Peay began that stretch with a 13-0 spurt in 2:42, bookended by 3-pointers from Carlos Paez.
Robinson, who has scored in double figures in his first three games with the Governors, pulled down nine rebounds, narrowly missing out on his second-career double-double. He tied a career-high with five assists.
Paez and Elijah Hutchins-Everett each finished with nine points. Paez was 3-of-6 from beyond the arc. Hutchins-Everett shot 4-of-7 overall. Perkins netted eight points, while Ware and Okworogwo each had seven. Hutchins-Everett and Ware pulled down eight rebounds apiece. The eight boards were a career-high for Ware. In addition to Robinson, Stone-Carrawell dished out five assists, while Cameron Copeland and Perkins had four and three, respectively. Stone-Carrawell and Perkins each came up with four steals.
Austin Peay shot 53.5 percent (38-of-71) overall, including 51.4 percent (18-of-35) in the final 20 minutes. The Governors were 42.9 percent (6-of-14) from distance in the second stanza and 40.7 percent (11-of-27) overall. Austin Peay turned 24 Buffaloes' miscues into 31 points and held edges in bench points (40-34), points in the paint (48-30), and second chance points (17-14). The Governors outrebounded Milligan 43-37, including 14-10 on the offensive glass.
Austin Peay travels to The Sunshine State for its next three contests, all part of the Greenlight Sunshine Slam, presented by Discount Tire. The southern swing starts Thursday with a trip to South Florida. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. CT.
