Box Score
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – It wouldn’t be an Austin Peay-Morehead State men’s basketball game without high drama and a heartstopping ending. The Govs hit a basket with 10 seconds left to win last year’s contest in the Dunn Center, and unfortunately for the Eagles, Tuesday night’s game ended in nearly the same fashion.
Demonte Harper nailed a three-pointer with 0.2 seconds left to send the game into overtime, and after the teams battled for five extra minutes, APSU’s Josh Terry laid in a reverse layup with 0.7 ticks left, and the Govs escaped again with another one-point OVC win, 86-85.
MSU dropped its second straight overtime contest to fall to 6-6 overall and 2-2 in the OVC, while the Govs improved to 4-0 in the OVC and 8-6 overall.
Harper did everything he could to help his team win as he scored 34 points, one short of his career high. He hit four three-pointers. Kenneth Faried recorded his 10th double-double with 14 points and 18 rebounds. Sam Goodman scored 16, Terrance Hill tallied 15, including 5-of-6 on three-pointers.
Late in the overtime period, the Eagles trailed 84-83, but Faried grabbed an offensive rebound and stuffed a dunk to give MSU the 85-84 advantage with 39 seconds left on the clock. The Govs ran the shot clock down to near zero before attempting a shot which missed. However, on the rebound, MSU could not come up with the ball, giving APSU a last chance with 5.5 ticks left. On the inbounds play, Terry retrieved the ball and scooped up a reverse layup as the clock wound down under a second. Harper attempted a last-ditch full court triple but it fell short.
The first half proved to be an extremely tight battle. Neither team led by more than four and the lead changed hands 12 times. With the game knotted at 16-16 all after a Harper layup, the 6-4 MSU guard proceeded to score 13 of the Eagles’ next 15 points as MSU took a 29-26 with 1:52 left.
The Eagles led by four at the half (34-30), thanks to a Ty Proffitt off-balance runner in the lane as the horn went off to end the first 20 minutes. Harper scored 15 in the opening frame. The Eagles shot 47 percent and led despite APSU’s stellar 59 percent field goal efficiency (13-of-22). MSU also had a 19-10 rebounding advantage at the break.
The second half proved to be much of the same, but the Eagles went on a 6-0 run to push ahead 57-52 with 7:17 left in the game after falling behind 52-51. At that point, Faried got a steal in the Govs’ lane and fed the ball to Reggie Williams who lobbed it back to Faried for a fast break one-handed slam. But the cushion was short lived as the Govs rallied to tie it again at 57.
Josh Terry laid in a reverse lay-up after a missed jumper with 2:30 left as the Govs regained a 66-65 advantage. After another Gov basket, Sam Goodman completed a three-point play to knot the contest again at 68 with 90 seconds left. After the Eagles re-took a 69-68 lead, Marcel Williams tapped in a putback with 1:07 left and Caleb Brown’s layup was ruled good on a goaltending call to give APSU a 72-69 lead.
Harper had a chance to cut the game to one, but missed the front end of a two-shot foul situation before swishing the second. MSU trailed 72-70 at that point, but a pair of Justin Blake free throws set the margin back at 74-70. Harper knocked down a three-pointer with five seconds left and after another pair of successful free throws, Harper raced the length of the court and drained a trey with 0.2 seconds left to send the game to overtime.
Tyshan Edmondson led the Govs with 22 points, while Melvin Baker recorded a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Terry finished with 17 points, and Brown notched 13.
The Eagles shot 47 percent for the game, while the Govs concluded with a 56 percent night. The Eagles out-rebounded APSU 38-30.
The Eagles’ next game will be a home contest against Kent State on Dec. 28 at 7 p.m.
