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Sai Witt drive vs. Chattanooga
Knox Rives, APSU Athletics
61
Chattanooga UTC 0-3,0-0 SoCon
67
Winner Austin Peay APSU 3-0,0-0 ASUN
Chattanooga UTC
0-3,0-0 SoCon
61
Final
67
Austin Peay APSU
3-0,0-0 ASUN
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Chattanooga UTC 31 30 61
Austin Peay APSU 37 30 67

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | Alex Allard, Assistant Director of Athletics Communications

Govs Remain Unbeaten Following Defensive Battle with Mocs

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – For the first time since 2000, Austin Peay State University's basketball team is 3-0 to start a season following a 67-61 win against Chattanooga in the Atlantic Sun Conference/Southern Conference Alliance, Monday, on Gary Mathews Court at F&M Bank Arena.

Austin Peay (3-0) was led by a tenacious, second-half defense that held Chattanooga (0-3) without a three-pointer on 11 attempts in the final 20 minutes of the contest. The Governors also kept the Mocs off the line in the second half, surrendering just a pair of free throws on three attempts.

For the second-straight game, the Governors' offense was paced by LJ Thomas' 18 points, while Sai Witt had a season-best 17 points in the winning effort.

Austin Peay made three of its first four shots to open the game with an 8-2 lead and led 20-16 heading into the under-12 media timeout, with Thomas leading all scorers with eight points in nearly many minutes. 

The Mocs made five-straight shots between 12:12-8:10 to tie the two Volunteer State foes at 25 before hitting a cold spell from the field, in which they made just one of their final 14 shots to end the half, allowing APSU to regain and extend its advantage to 37-31 heading into the break.

Witt scored nine points and hauled in eight rebounds in nine minutes of first-half action, while Thomas led all scorers with 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field.

While the Govs split their first six attempts of the final 20 minutes, UTC made its first pair of shots, both on layups, but was answered by five-straight misses from the field. 

Despite its prolonged, inefficient shooting, the Mocs cut the Govs' advantage to 45-43 with 11:31 remaining in the second half. The Govs answered with a 7-2 run following an Isaac Haney three-pointer and a perfect trip to the line.

Hansel Enmanuel scored back-to-back baskets for the Govs – both on tip-ins – with the final giving the Govs a 61-55 lead with under two minutes to play. With a multi-score lead in hand, Austin Peay went 5-of-6 from the charity stripe to secure the win against Chattanooga in both team's first game of the ASUN/SoCon Challenge.

Up Next

The Governors hit the road for their first of seven-straight road games when they travel to Knoxville to face No. 12 Tennessee in a 2 p.m., Sunday contest at Thompson-Boling Arena.  

The Difference

Three-point defense in the second half. Nearly half of the Mocs' first-half-points came from beyond the perimeter, as they went 5-for-18 on the long ball. Austin Peay then shut down the line, holding UTC without a triple on all 11 of their attempts in the game's final 20 minutes.

Box Score Bullets

  • Austin Peay improved to 3-0 in the win against Chattanooga, its first 3-0 start to a season since beginning the 2000-01 season 4-0.
  • The Governors' three-game winning streak is the fourth under head coach Corey Gipson.
  • Austin Peay improved to 16-3 all-time at F&M Bank Arena.
  • The Governors improved to 9-10 all-time against Chattanooga and 7-2 against the Mocs in Clarksville.
  • Austin Peay has not trailed at any point in the second half this season.
  • The Governors scored 17 points off 12 UTC turnover.
  • The Governors scored 30 points in the paint, and accomplished such in all three games this season.
  • Austin Peay made one more three than UTC (6), and now is 14-7 under Corey Gipson when making more three-pointers than its opponent.
  • LJ Thomas led the Governors in scoring for the second-straight game with 18 points.
  • Sai Witt followed Thomas in scoring with 17 points, including a 9-of-12 mark from the free throw line.
  • Witt led the Governors in rebounding for the first time this season, while Hansel Enmanuel paced the Govs with three offensive boards.  
  • The starting lineup of Sai Witt, Isaac Haney, LJ Thomas, Quan Lax, and Hansel Enmanuel improved to 2-0 on the season.
  • With Isaac Haney's three-pointer 2:17 into the first half extended the Govs' streak of consecutive games with a triple to 704 games – a streak that began Feb. 23, 2002.

Coaches Corner 

With Head Coach Corey Gipson

On Second-Half Adjustments… "In the first half, we were overcollapsing on their drives. We had to decide if we were going to make them prove that they can make tough two's and that was the adjustment we made. We had to defend the three-ball, and I don't think they made a three. This team has the ability to form defensively and has a defensive identity that is real. Not often do you have a team that's real identity is defense. We are who we are and this team is very stingy defensively."

On Sai Witt's Performance… "Sai is a force to reckon with. He is great at working angles. He does his work early. When he is playing against defenders that don't do their work early, they have to pay. I don't think you can guard him in one-on-one coverage, and teams are starting to double him, but since we have such good spacing, he is savvy enough to play inside-out."

Follow the Govs on Social

For news and updates on all things Governors' basketball, follow the men's basketball team on X and Instagram (@GovsMBB) and Facebook (Austin Peay Men's Basketball) or check back at LetsGoPeay.com. 

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