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Taylor’s charge helps Austin Peay Govs fend off SEMO, remain atop OVC standingsAPSU Sports Information
Taylor scored 24 of his game-high 29 points in the second half and Austin Peay (9-7, 4-0 OVC) now finds itself tied with Murray State as the only unbeaten teams remaining after two weeks of league play. Southeast Missouri falls to 7-10 (1-3 OVC). ![]() Austin Peay Men’s Basketball freshman guard/forward Terry Taylor had a game high 29 points and 14 rebounds in Saturday night victory over Southeast Missouri. (APSU Sports Information) The start was not what the Govs envisioned; Austin Peay missed its first four shots and committed four turnovers in the first 4:30 of the contest, trailing 11-2 just over five minutes in. Back-to-back runners in the lane from senior Tre’ Ivory provided Austin Peay some much-needed spark as they sought to find their footing in the game’s opening moments. Once the Govs found their offense, they poured it on to the tune of a 16-2 run, highlighted by five points each from Averyl Ugba and Chris Porter-Bunton.
Southeast Missouri forged a comeback in the second half. After the Govs stretched the lead to 11 points, the Redhawks needed less than three minutes to reel off a 15-5 run and cut Austin Peay’s lead to a single point. What followed was a see-saw battle over the final nine minutes of play, as the Govs and Redhawks traded buckets and stops. When Southeast Missouri’s leading scorer, Denzel Mahoney, scored his 24th point on a three-pointer with 1:19 to go, it was again a one-point game.
The Redhawks had one final chance, but Southeast Missouri guard Jonathan Dalton lost the ball out of bounds as he turned to head up the court. The Govs got the ball in to Taylor, who was fouled and hit two more free-throws to wrap up the win for Austin Peay. The DifferenceAustin Peay controlled the boards all night, finishing with a plus-21 (44-23) rebounding advantage, which resulted in a 24-5 difference in second-chance points. The Governors have now outrebounded opponents in six straight games, by an average of 10.3 rebounds per game, which has led to a 17.3-8.2 advantage on second-chance points; tonight’s plus-19 advantage equaled Austin Peay’s season-high. Notably
The Govs are now 4-0 in OVC play for the first time since the 2010-11 season—coincidentally, that’s the last time the Govs were more than two games above .500 at this point in the season, a mark they moved to at 9-7 after tonight’s win. And the last time Austin Peay won four straight OVC home games was the 2011-12 season. Porter-Bunton marked his third straight night in double figures, finishing with 11 points. It’s his first three-game streak scoring in double figures as a Governor. He’s now averaging 7.9 ppg in wins and 4.1 ppg during losses this season.
Taylor finished with a game-high 29 points, including 24 in the second half. He’s averaging 19.5 ppg in his last eight games. Southeast Missouri’s Dalton finished with a game-high nine assists, most by an Austin Peay opponent this season. Coaching Quotables with Head Coach Matt FiggerOverall Thoughts “I had to send a message to those guys. I wasn’t very happy with them, hadn’t been very happy with them all week in practice and their rope got short. I wasn’t thrilled at all with how we started the game.” On battling back Next Up for APSU Men’s Basketball
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