Austin Peay Downs EIU, 92-84, Area College Roundup

With a winter storm warning in effect in Central Illinois, Austin Peay and Eastern Illinois warmed up the scoreboard Saturday morning during a nationally televised game on American Sports Network.  In the end Austin Peay picked up a 92-84 road win at EIU in Lantz Arena.
 
APSU improved to 6-13 overall, 2-3 in the OVC.  EIU dropped to 9-9 overall, 1-4 in the OVC.
 
Demetrius McReynolds and Josh Robinson squared off in a scoring duel of their own with McReynolds scoring 19 of his career high 32 points for EIU in the first half.  McReynolds added 12 rebounds for his fourth career double-double.  Robinson warmed up for the Governors in the second half scoring 21 of his game high 36 points as APSU built on a 44-43 halftime lead.
 
EIU jumped out quick and held a three point lead with 10:17 to play on a pair of free throws by Muusa Dama.  APSU responded with a 13-2 run building an eight point lead on a 3-pointer by Jared Savage that put the Governors up 31-23 with 6:56 to play in the first half.  Austin Peay was 8-of-13 from 3-point range in the first half and 12-of-20 from beyond the arc for the game.
 
EIU closed the Austin Peay lead to one point at the half finishing with a 9-2 run.  McReynolds had four points in the run and Montell Goodwin sank a 3-pointer with just over a minute remaining in the half.
 
Dama gave EIU the lead with a lay-up to open the half as he joined McReynolds with a double-double for EIU with 16 points and ten rebounds.  Robinson gave APSU the lead on the next possession and the Governors held the lead until EIU was able to tie the game at 70-70 on free throws by Ray Crossland with 7:36 left in the game.
 
Kenny Jones scored four straight points followed by five points by Robinson as APSU added a 9-0 run after Crossland’s free throws.  Jones had 12 points and 11 rebounds for the Governors.   Austin Peay would increase the lead to ten points on Robinson free throws with 1:21 to play.
 
EIU was able to trim the lead to six points with 14 seconds remaining but could get no closer after the 9-0 APSU run.  Goodwin finished with 14 points and Casey Teson added ten off the bench.   Terrell Lewis tied the EIU career record for assists at 415 as he finished the game with four.
 
John Murry and Savage rounded out the APSU double figure scorers.  Murry had 18 points and Savage 11.  APSU shot 54 percent from the field in the game.

Murray State 67, SIUE 59

 SIUE pushed Murray State to the limit Saturday night, but the Cougars just finished shy of a win in an Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball game at the Vadalabene Center.

The Racers defeated the Cougars 67-59 for their fifth win in their last six games. Murray State, the West Division leaders, improved to 10-9 overall and 4-1 in the OVC. SIUE fell to 5-14 and 0-5.

"Murray State is the class of the league, so we gave a good effort from start to finish," SIUE Head Coach Jon Harris said. "They made some big shots, and we just came up short."

Burak Eslik, Tre Harris, Josh White and Brandon Jackson tried their best to try and lift the Cougars over the Racers. Eslik scored 14 points and snared six rebounds. Harris finished with a team-best 15 points and helped key a second-half rally. White tallied a career-best 13 points and seven rebounds. Jackson grabbed eight rebounds and supplied five points.

"We are doing some good things," said Eslik, a 6-foot, 4-inch senior guard from Turkey.

Eslik added, "We're not going to give up. We're going to keep working hard."

Austin Peay 69, EIU Women 59

The Panthers went cold to open the fourth quarter as Austin Peay surged late in the game to win 69-59 Saturday afternoon. Following the loss EIU drops to 5-13 on the year and 1-5 in the OVC while APSU improves to 9-10 and 3-3 in the conference.

Grace Lennox continued her impressive conference play leading all scorers with 22 points and three rebounds.

Sophomore Brittin Boyer earned her first start of the season against the Governors finishing the game with a career high 18 points adding four rebounds and two steals. Zharia Lenoir earned her first career start recording four rebounds, three assists, three steals, and one point.

EIU came out of the gates firing to open Saturday afternoon's game going on a 13-2 run capped off by a Boyer layup at the 4:56 mark. APSU managed to keep the Panthers in check as a layup from Brianne Alexander with 22 seconds left in the period closed off a 7-2 run for the Governors to end the quarter.

The Panthers held APSU to 26 percent shooting in the first quarter while EIU shot 47 percent to lead 17-11 at the end of the period.

EIU kept the momentum going in the second period going on an 8-1 run early in the quarter to push their lead to double-digits. A three-pointer from Allison Van Dyke at the 5:16 mark earned EIU its largest lead of the game as the Panthers went ahead 28-16. Van Dyke finished the game with six points and three rebounds.

The Panthers lead remained around 10 points throughout the rest of the half as a jumper from Tearra Banks in the last seconds of the first half sent both teams into the locker room with EIU leading 34-25.

The Panthers finished the first half shooting 51.7 percent from the floor with Lennox already in double-figures with 14 points.

The second half was a different story as the Governors chipped away at EIU's lead utilizing a 7-0 run capped off by a layup from Keisha Gregory at the 6:09 mark to tie the game 38-38. EIU regained their lead thanks to back-to-back buckets from Boyer, but APSU would answer with an 8-2 run to earn their first lead of the game 46-44 with 3:00 minutes left in the third quarter. The Panthers managed to head into the fourth quarter with a slim 50-48 lead following a pair of free throws from Lennox with 23 seconds to go in the quarter.

Austin Peay took control in the early stages of the fourth quarter going on a 14-1 run as the Panthers went cold from the floor. The Panthers did not make a bucket until the 3:33 mark as the jumper from Lennox halted the Governors run with the score of 63-52. Lennox scored six of EIU's nine points in the fourth quarter as APSU out-scored the Panthers 21-9 in the final period to earn the 69-59 win.

EIU shot 28 percent in the fourth quarter finishing the game with a 46.4 field-goal percentage.