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CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. -- Junior Travis Betran drilled a contested 22-footer from the right wing as the overtime clock expired to give the Austin Peay men’s basketball team a 84-81 victory over Morehead State on Wednesday evening at Aaron Arena.
The Governors, who snap an eight-game skid, improve to 5-12 overall, 4-2 at home and 1-2 in the Ohio Valley Conference. The Eagles, who see a three-game winning streak end, slip to 8-9 on the season, 1-7 on the road and 2-1 in league play.
Austin Peay also ends a four-game losing streak in the all-time series against Morehead State, but the Eagles still own a 52-51 upper hand. MSU has three more OVC showdowns on the road before returning to Johnson Arena on Jan. 24.
Austin Peay held a 39-20 halftime advantage, thanks to 45 percent (14-of-31) from the field while Morehead State was limited to just 28 percent (8-of-29).
The hosts raced out to a 25-7 lead less than 13 minutes into the game and pushed their cushion to a game-high 21 points with 4:14 before intermission. APSU built its advantage by hitting 9-of-23 over the game’s first 12 minutes, while MSU started just 2-of-16 from the field.
“You can’t dig a 19-point hole at halftime and expect to come back in an OVC road game, but I’m proud of my guys for playing hard in the second half and overtime,” Head Coach Sean Woods said. “Hopefully, we can use this game as a learning experience down the road.”
Morehead State flipped the script in the second period, due to 54 percent (19-of-35) from the floor while Austin Peay was held to just 40 percent (10-of-25). The visitors stormed back with a 35-17 spurt over the first 11 minutes after intermission to trim the deficit to one possession.
“We got good looks in the first half, but just couldn’t knock them down,” Woods said. “We made some adjustments at halftime and the second half was much better. We dictated the pace and tempo after our rough first half tonight.”
The Governors finished at 45 percent (26-of-58) for the evening, including 52 percent (11-of-21) from three-point range. The Eagles wrapped up the affair at 43 percent (31-of-72), but drilled just 30 percent (8-of-27) from beyond the arc.
Morehead State was whistled for 30 fouls, while Austin Peay committed just 14. The difference was a 21-11 edge in made free throws. The Eagles canned 85 percent from the charity stripe, while the Governors connected on 72 percent.
Betran, the team’s leading scorer at 17.1, finished with 20 points on 7-of-7 from the foul line. Austin Peay junior Will Triggs tied Betran for game-high honors with 20 points on 7-of-9 from the floor and 6-of-9 from the charity stripe.
Junior Bakari Turner (19), junior Drew Kelly (16), senior Milton Chavis (15), junior Chad Posthumus (10) and junior Maurice Lewis-Briggs (10) all finished in double figures for MSU. Turner netted all of his points in the second half and overtime, while Posthumus scored all of his in the second period.
Posthumus also collected a game-best 10 rebounds, while senior Devon Atkinson contributed a game-high seven assists. MSU was +10 on the glass and +3 in the assists column. Both teams were tagged with 17 turnovers, while recording eight steals and three blocked shots.
Morehead State travels to Eastern Kentucky on Saturday for another league match-up. Tip-off from McBrayer Arena is set for 7 p.m. ET. The game will follow an MSU vs. EKU women’s game at 4. Live video, audio and statistics links for both contests will be available via MSUEagles.com.
“Eastern Kentucky is playing very good basketball right now, so we will have our hands full,” Woods added. “But everyone in this program is looking forward to the challenge. I hope all Morehead State fans are able to make the short trip over to Richmond because our guys deserve the support.”
