Morehead State Drops Last-Second Contest at Austin Peay, 56-55

Associated Press

The Eagles fell to 15-7 and 9-2 in the OVC, while Austin Peay upped its mark to 13-10 and 7-4 in the conference.

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. — Justin Blake hit a 3-pointer with 14 seconds left and Austin Peay defeated Morehead State 56-55 on Sunday, snapping an 11-game winning streak.

The Governors (13-10, 7-4 Ohio Valley Conference) trailed 51-40 with 6:03 left, but went on an 11-1 run. Wes Channels’ layup pulled the Governors within 52-51 with 1:46 remaining.

Terrance Hill then hit two free throws to give Morehead State (15-7, 9-2) a 54-51 lead with 1:26 left. But Blake’s layup pulled the Governors back within one 23 seconds later.

Kenneth Faried went to the free throw line for the Eagles with 33 seconds left, but made just one of two, allowing the Governors to take their first lead since 11-9 with 12:40 left in the first half.

Blake finished with 14 points for Austin Peay, which shot 54.5 percent in the second half (12 of 22).

Faried scored 19 points and grabbed 13 rebounds for the Eagles.

APSU outscored the Eagles 16-7 over the next eight minutes, and with less than two minutes left on the game clock, the Govs cut the game to one at 52-51. A pair of Hill free throws made it a 54-51 Eagle lead. Blake hit a runner in the lane, and then Faried made one of two free throws on the Eagle end of the floor. With MSU ahead 55-53, Blake nailed a clutch three to give his team a one-point lead with 10 seconds remaining.

Harper got a five-foot jump shot in the lane with three seconds left, and Stallworth tried to tip in the miss but the ball rimmed out and time expired.

“We ran a clear out for Demonte and we got the shot we wanted, it just didn’t go down,” said Tyndall.
MSU shot 38 percent for the game. The Govs shot 42 percent and turned it over 21 times.

The Eagles return home for an OVC contest versus Jacksonville State Thursday at 7:30 p.m.