By Wade Neely, Clarksville Sports Network
Clarksville, TN – Despite entering Wednesday night’s game against Belmont playing their best basketball of the season, Dave Loos and the Austin Peay Govs knew they would be playing arguably one of their best opponents on their entire non-conference schedule.
After 40 minutes of game action, Loos and the Govs maintained that sentiment after a hard-fought 77-67 loss to their future OVC opponents in the Dunn Center.
In a game that was sloppily-played throughout, the Bruins (8-5) raced out to an early 22-10 lead thanks to 10 first-half Govs turnovers.
“I think we got a little loose with the ball,” Loos said. “We had too many turnovers where we were just careless.”
After TyShwan Edmondson buried four first-half 3-pointers, however, the Govs (3-10) trimmed the halftime deficit to 39-32 and appeared poised to overtake the Bruins in the game’s final 20 minutes.
Unfortunately for the APSU, the Bruins answered every Govs’ surge with a shot of their own before ultimately pulling away.
The Govs also hurt themselves in the second half, shooting just 8-of-17 from the free throw line to finish 10-of-22 on the night.
“This has been the story of the non-conference season for us,” Loos said about his team’s comeback bid that fell just short. “We get right there and can’t get over the hump. A few free throws would have helped as well as taking a little bit better care of the basketball.”
Edmondson’s 20 points were flanked by a double-double from Melvin Baker, who had 11 points to go along with 13 rebounds.
Wednesday’s loss marked the next-to-last non-conference meeting between the two schools separated by 50 miles along I-24.
The Bruins will begin play in the OVC beginning next fall.
As a result, the intensity in future games between the two schools should only heat up.
“It definitely felt like a conference games at time tonight,” Baker said. “Obviously I won’t be here next year, but it will be interesting to see them in the OVC next year.”
The two teams will meet for one final non-conference match-up in Nashville on February 6th.
The Govs will now enjoy a few days off before before beginning their OVC schedule next Thursday at Eastern Kentucky.
“It’s good to get a break,” Edmondson said. “But I’ve got a pretty good feeling that there will be a lot of guys still in the gym. We’ve got to get ready for the conference.”
Photo Gallery
Box Score
Belmont vs Austin Peay
12/21/11 7:30pm at Clarksville, TN. (Dunn Center)
Belmont 77
| Total | 3-point | Rebounds | ||||||||||||
| ## | Player | p | fgm-fga | fgm-fga | ftm-fta | off-def | tot | pf | tp | a | to | blk | stl | min |
| 34 | HEDGEPETH, Mick | f | 3-5 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 1-1 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 17 |
| 32 | SAUNDERS, Scott | c | 7-9 | 0-0 | 9-12 | 2-9 | 11 | 3 | 23 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 27 |
| 01 | HANLEN, Drew | g | 3-7 | 3-5 | 4-4 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 29 |
| 03 | JOHNSON, Kerron | g | 5-8 | 0-2 | 5-7 | 1-1 | 2 | 2 | 15 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 31 |
| 21 | CLARK, Ian | g | 3-7 | 3-6 | 3-4 | 2-4 | 6 | 2 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 32 |
| 02 | JENKINS, Blake | – | 0-4 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 |
| 14 | MANN, J.J. | – | 2-6 | 0-2 | 2-2 | 1-3 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 21 |
| 22 | CHAMBERLAIN, Reece | – | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| 24 | BARNES, Adam | – | 0-1 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 0-1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 |
| 45 | BAKER, Brandon | – | 0-2 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 2-3 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 20 |
| TM | TEAM | – | – | – | – | 0-3 | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Totals………….. | – | 23-49 | 6-17 | 25-32 | 9-26 | 35 | 22 | 77 | 11 | 18 | 3 | 11 | 200 | |
| 46.9% | 35.3% | 78.1% | ||||||||||||
| Team summary: | FG | 3FG | FT | |||||||||||
| 1st Half: | 13-30 | 4-11 | 9-12 | |||||||||||
| 43.3% | 36.4% | 75.0% | ||||||||||||
| 2nd Half: | 10-19 | 2-6 | 16-20 | |||||||||||
| 52.6% | 33.3% | 80.0% | ||||||||||||
Austin Peay 67
| Total | 3-point | Rebounds | ||||||||||||
| ## | Player | p | fgm-fga | fgm-fga | ftm-fta | off-def | tot | pf | tp | a | to | blk | stl | min |
| 20 | BAKER, Melvin | f | 4-9 | 0-0 | 3-7 | 4-9 | 13 | 3 | 11 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 32 |
| 23 | TERRY, Josh | f | 3-11 | 0-1 | 1-2 | 0-2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 36 |
| 21 | FRALEY, John | c | 0-2 | 0-0 | 2-4 | 2-3 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 22 |
| 01 | CLYBURN, Jerome | g | 6-12 | 0-1 | 0-1 | 0-1 | 1 | 4 | 12 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 29 |
| 22 | LAWRENCE, Herdie | g | 1-2 | 0-1 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| 10 | TRIGGS, Will | – | 3-4 | 0-0 | 2-3 | 3-3 | 6 | 2 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 16 |
| 11 | GREER, Thomas | – | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 12 | EDMONDSON, TyShwan | – | 7-15 | 5-10 | 1-2 | 1-1 | 2 | 2 | 20 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 36 |
| 15 | FREEMAN, Chris | – | 2-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1-0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 32 | BLAKE, Justin | – | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 33 | HASSE, Matt | – | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| TM | TEAM | – | – | – | – | 3-0 | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Totals………….. | – | 26-57 | 5-13 | 10-22 | 14-22 | 36 | 21 | 67 | 12 | 17 | 3 | 6 | 200 | |
| 45.6% | 38.5% | 45.5% | ||||||||||||
| Team summary: | FG | 3FG | FT | |||||||||||
| 1st Half: | 13-26 | 4-6 | 2-5 | |||||||||||
| 50.0% | 66.7% | 40.0% | ||||||||||||
| 2nd Half: | 13-31 | 1-7 | 8-17 | |||||||||||
| 41.9% | 14.3% | 47.1% | ||||||||||||
| Score by Periods | 1st | 2nd | Total | |
| Belmont | 39 | 38 | 77 | Record: (8-5) |
| Austin Peay | 32 | 35 | 67 | Record: (3-10) |
| Points in the paint-BU 26,APSU 24. Points off turnovers-BU 25,APSU 20. |
| 2nd chance points-BU 6,APSU 14. Fast break points-BU 2,APSU 0. |
| Bench points-BU 7,APSU 32. Score tied-2 times. Lead changed-0 times. |
| Last FG-BU 2nd-01:15, APSU 2nd-00:27. |
| Largest lead-BU by 12 1st-09:16, APSU None. |
| Officials: Coy Gammon (R), Kevin Mathis, Steve Pyatt Technical fouls: Belmont-None. Austin Peay-None. Attendance: 3212 Copies in a Flash APSU Player of the Game: TyShwan Edmondson |
