SUNDAY'S SCORES
Austin Peay 92, @Lipscomb 84
@Morehead State 60, Western Carolina 52
AUSTIN PEAY 92, LIPSCOMB 84
NASHVILLE - In one of the greatest shooting performances in Austin Peay State University men's basketball history, Chris Horton connected on 16-of-17 shots in scoring a career-high 37 points as the Govs rallied for a 92-84 decision against Lipscomb, Sunday afternoon, at Allen Arena in Nashville.
Horton's near-perfect shooting performance was the second-best in Govs' history—Ralph Garner went 10-for-10 against March 4, 1977. His only miss—after 14 straight makes—was when Lipscomb's J.J. Butler blocked a layup attempt from behind with 1:13 left. Horton had just set his career best (28 points) against North Florida, Wednesday.
Horton scored 22 of his points in the first half, going 9-of-9 from the floor. Despite his efforts the Govs trailed 47-39 at halftime as Lipscomb went 11-of-21 from three-point range. It also didn't when sophomore guard Josh Robinson, who had one of the Govs' two first-half three pointers, had to sit for the half's final 15 minutes with foul woes.
With Lipscomb concentrating on Horton in the second half, Robinson responded with 18 points, including a trio of three pointers. In fact, it was a Horton-to-Robinson pass that literally put the final dagger into the Bisons. With APSU holding onto a five-point lead with a little more than three minutes left. Robinson missed a baseline jumper. But Horton tracked down the missed shot under the basket. With the shot clock winding down, he returned the ball to the 6-2 guard, who nailed the jumper to give APSU an 85-78 advantage with 2:58 left.
Lipscomb cut the deficit to four, 88-84, with 1:35 left but Khalil Davis, who had a career-high nine assists on the afternoon, found Horton for consecutive dunks to finish off the scoring.
The victory improved the Govs to 5-7 overall, ending the five-game road trip with a 2-3 mark. It also should give the Govs momentum as they return home for a six-game homestand.
Lipscomb fell to 4-11 overall, despite 22- and 21-point efforts from Nathan Morgan and J.C. Hampton, who combined for nine three pointers made.
Even though Lipscomb ended with 84 points, Loos believes it was the second-half defense that was the turning point. After the Bisons dissected the Govs from the perimeter in the first half, they went just 1-of-11 from behind the arc in the second half, shooting just 42 percent overall over the final 20 minutes.
For a second consecutive game, the Governors got strong performances from a trio of freshmen, Jared Savage, Zach Glotta and Chris Porter-Bunton. Glotta had two second-half three pointers to help the Govs overcome a 10-point second-half deficit. Savage tipped in a missed shot to give APSU a 72-70 lead and after the two teams traded buckets—APSU's was a Horton dunk—the Bowling Green native nailed a long three-point to give APSU a seven-point, 79-72, lead with 6:39 left. Savage finished with eight points and his six rebounds were second behind Horton's 13. Glotta ended with six points.
The Govs finished the night shooting 59 percent (36 of 61) from the floor and holding a commanding 40-27 rebound advantage.
But the game mostly will be remembered for Horton's outstanding performance, his 10th double-double in 12 games. In scoring 37 points, it was the most by a Govs since Drake Reed had 37 against Eastern Illinois, Dec. 6, 2008.
MOREHEAD STATE 60, WESTERN CAROLINA 52
MOREHEAD, Ky. - The Morehead State Eagles closed a physical contest on an 8-0 run to down the Western Carolina Catamounts, 60-52, on Sunday afternoon at Johnson Arena.
The Eagles started the game shooting just 1-of-12 and trailed 14-6, but went on a 15-2 run to take the lead and eventually went to the locker room at half with a 26-22 lead.
Morehead State quickly jumped out to a game-high ten-point lead to start the second half at 32-22. Leading 38-31, however, WCU mounted a 7-0 run of their own to even things up. After building the lead back up to 52-47 with 4:14 to go, the Catamounts reeled off five straight to tie it with just under two minutes remaining.
But, the Catamounts would not score again as the Eagles finished the game on an 8-0 run to seal the victory.
Senior forward Anthony Elechi's layup put MSU up 54-52 and then junior forward DeJuan Marrero knocked down a pair of clutch free throws to stretch the lead to 57-52 with 38 seconds remaining.
Marrero led the way for the Eagles, shooting 5-of-8 from the field and finished with a team-high 16 points and 13 rebounds, including five offensive boards. It marked his first career double-double at MSU.
Junior guard Corban Collins had 12 points and four assists, while sophomore guard Miguel Dicent and senior guard Brent Arrington each finished with 10 points.
The Eagles won both battles down low, outscoring the Catamounts in the paint, 32-20, and finished with a rebounding edge of 41-32.
They limited the Catamounts to 31 percent shooting, including just 28 percent in the second half. They also held WCU to 4-of-15 shooting from three-point range. The Eagles shot 41 percent for the contest.