CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – And that's why you don't count out the Governors, especially on their home hardwood.
Trailing by 14 midway through the second half, Isaac Haney scored 15 of his 21 points in the final 10 minutes to lead Austin Peay State University's basketball team to a 79-76 Atlantic Sun Conference victory against Queens, Saturday, on Gary Mathews Court at F&M Bank Arena.
In the final 10:02 Austin Peay: held Queens to 2-of-10 from the field, forced six turnovers, made eight shots, went 9-for-9 from the free throw line, and came away with the win all because of it.
Haney finished second on the team in scoring behind only Dezi Jones' season-high 27 points which are only one off the Hannibal, Missouri native's career high. Sai Witt rounded out the Govs' double-figure scorers with 18 points and tied for a game-high seven boards in the victory.
The scoring came early and often for Austin Peay (13-13, 6-5 ASUN), in particular, Jones, who scored 10 of the Govs' first 14 points in the game's first six minutes.
The Governors connected on nine of their first 12 shots of the evening and led by double figures – 21 to 11 – halfway through the opening period.
Queens (10-16, 4-7 ASUN) answered the Govs' 10-point lead with an 11-2 run to trim its deficit to one after limiting APSU to 1-of-4 from the field and forcing a pair of turnovers during the stretch.
APSU and Queens battled back and forth over the next five minutes, until the Royals took their first lead of the night following a three-pointer, APSU miss from range, and layup to go up 33-32 with 1:56 to play in the half.
A split attempt at the line with six seconds remaining in the half brought the two teams to even at 35, but a Queens shot at the buzzer gave it a two-point lead heading into the break.
Queens scored the first six points of the second half off a pair of two-pointers and a 2-for-2 trip to the line. The Royals held the four-score advantage until 6:11 into the second half when they took their first 10-point lead of the night, which they held off-and-on until the under-12 media timeout.
After Queens extended the advantage to 14 at the 10:02 mark of the second half, Austin Peay, well, you know what the Govs did, but let's break it down just for fun.
Facing its largest lead of the night, the Govs quickly answered with an 8-0 run sparked by a pair of Haney free throws and followed by two Witt layups.
The final scoring run of the night for Queens came after Witt's second layup, as the Royals regained a 10-point advantage with 6:40 remaining in regulation.
A three-pointer by Jones was followed by a pair of makes at the stripe by Haney to make it 71-66 Royals with five minutes to play.
Including his attempts at the line, Haney scored eight-straight APSU points between the 5:05 and 2:35 mark, with Dezi Jones then knocking down a pair of free throws to tie the game with 2:00 to play.
Haney's second foul of the night resulted in a pair of Royals' points at the line, but the junior guard made up for it an old-fashioned three-point play to put the Govs up 77-76 in the final 87 seconds – the Govs' first lead since there was 1:30 remaining in the opening 20 minutes.
From there, the Govs sealed the win with Jones making yet another pair at the line to extend APSU's lead and secure the victory.
The Difference
Isaac Haney. 21 points. 15 in the final 10 minutes. The go-ahead three-point play. He was electric.
We would be remiss not to mention Jonathan Dunn when talking about "the difference" as well. Dunn had a plus-minus of +13 in 6:40 of play.
Up Next
It's back to the road for Austin Peay. The Govs take on Central Arkansas in a 7:30 p.m., Thursday contest before heading to Florence, Alabama for a 7:15 p.m., Saturday game against North Alabama.
Inside the Box Score
- Austin Peay returns to .500 on the season at 13-13.
- The Governors improve to 6-5 in Atlantic Sun Conference play and currently sit fourth in the ASUN Conference standings.
- Austin Peay is on its second three-game winning streak of the season and the program's first in ASUN Conference play in program history.
- The Governors have won three-straight conference games for the first time since a three-game stretch (Feb. 10-14) during the 2021-22 Ohio Valley Conference slate.
- Dezi Jones' 27 points mark a season-high for the graduate student guard and are the second-most of his Division I career, trailing only a 28-point night against Rider, Feb, 19. 2023, while he was at Quinnipiac.
- Jones' 27 points are tied for the third-most by a Gov this season.
- After forcing just one turnover in the first 32:46, Austin Peay forced seven Queens' miscues in the final 7:14.
- Austin Peay did not turn the ball over in the final 18 minutes.
- With six turnovers, and forcing seven on the defensive end, Austin Peay improved to 12-9 on the season when turning the ball over less than the opponent.
- Isaac Haney's 21 points marked his second 20-point performance for the Red and White and the first since scoring a season-high 24 points against North Alabama on Jan. 18.
- For the fourth time this season, Austin Peay opened the game with a three-pointer. Dezi Jones' make from deep extended APSU's streak of consecutive games with a triple to 692 games.
- Austin Peay outshot Queens from the field, 55.8 percent to 51.0 percent, and improved to 10-2 when shooting at a higher clip than the opponent.
- The Govs' 14-point comeback is its largest of the season and marks the team's fourth double-digit comeback of 2023-24 and first since a 12-point comeback against North Alabama, Jan. 18.
- The starting lineup of Dezi Jones, Ja'Monta Black, Dez White, Isaac Haney, and Sai Witt improved to 3-0 on the season - the second most wins by a starting group this year.
- The Governors improved to 3-0 in the month of February and 4-6 in Saturday contests.
- Austin Peay is 8-1 this season when scoring at least 78 points and has accomplished such in three-straight games for the first time this season.
- The Governors improved to 10-1 at F&M Bank Arena this season and now are 5-0 on their home hardwood in ASUN play.
- Austin Peay's three-game winning streak is tied for the best in the ASUN.
- Following a quick look at the ASUN standings, Austin Peay currently since fourth in the league, is one game out of third place (Lipscomb), two games behind second-place (Stetson), and three games behind league-leading Eastern Kentucky, who is 9-2 following a loss to Stetson this afternoon.
What The Peayple Are Saying
