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Austin Peay Governors Basketball looks to maintain momentum against the Southeast Missouri Skyhawks

Austin Peay Men’s Basketball vs. Southeast Missouri
Saturday, February 25th, 2012 | Tipoff: 7:30pm (CT)
Clarksville, TN | Winfield Dunn Center (7,257)

Austin Peay State University GovernorsClarksville, TN – It is no longer a matter of “if” for Austin Peay’s basketball team in reference to qualifying for its 28th straight Ohio Valley Conference basketball tournament. Now it is a matter of where the Governors will be seeded when the tournament starts this coming Wednesday at Nashville’s Municipal Auditorium.

The Governors can be seeded as high as sixth and as low as eighth heading into Saturday’s 7:30pm regular-season finale against Southeast Missouri.

Austin Peay Men's Basketball.
Austin Peay Men's Basketball.

Austin Peay is coming off an 85-67 victory against UT Martin, a contest that saw five Governors score in double figures while as a team they shot 55.6 percent (30 of 54) from the floor. Three Governors reserves–Herdie Lawrence (19 points), Justin Blake (11) and Chris Freeman (10)–combined for 40 of those points.

It was significant in that both starting guard TyShwan Edmondson (five points) and Melvin Baker (zero points) were saddled with first-half foul problems. Edmondson eventually fouled out and Baker never could find his rhythm.

That was Austin Peay’s second straight victory, a modest streak for a Governors team that recently endured five straight losses. They would love nothing better to take even a little more momentum into the tourney.

To do that the Governors would have to keep Southeast Missouri on its uneven pace. The Redhawks, who at one time were alone in second place in the OVC race, have lost three straight games and five of their last seven, including four conference defeats. The are now tied for third at 9-6 (14-14 overall) with Morehead State and Tennessee Tech.

SEMO dropped a 69-59 decision to Jacksonville State, Thursday night, in a contest that saw the Redhawks lose three players to fouls as JSU shot 46 free throws.

Sophomore transfer Tyler Stone leads the team, averaging 14.4 ppg, while guard Marland Smith is averaging 12.4 ppg. Nick Niemczyk, a former teammate of Josh Terry’s at Three Rivers Community College, is at 9.3 ppg.

Governors Pardon

  • This is Austin Peay’s 80th season of basketball.
  • Dave Loos, APSU’s all-time winningest basketball coach, also is the OVC’s all-time wins leader with 362 victories. He also has 444 career coaching wins.
  • The Dave Aaron Arena playing floor was named Dave Loos Court, Summer 2007. Loos is believed to be one of only three current Division I men’s coaches who are coaching on courts that bear their respective names–Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski and Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim–are the other two. Valparaiso’s Homer Drew, who retired after the 2010-11 season, had the floor named after him last season.
  • Austin Peay has reached at least the OVC tournament semifinals in 13 of the last 17 years.
  • Austin Peay has made 28 straight appearances, including 2012, in the OVC tournament.

What You Should Know

The Series: This is the 47th meeting between the two clubs with Austin Peay holding a 31-16 advantage. APSU has won 12 of the last 14 meetings, but incurred a 65-60 loss in Cape Girardeau, MO, January 26th, when the Redhawks ended the game on a 6-0 run. Josh Terry had 18 points for the Govs while five Redhawks scored in double figures in a balanced attack. SEMO out-rebounded the Govs 50-26 that night.

Deeper Meanings

What A Win Would Mean: The Govs would gain their third straight win and would end the 2011-12 regular season at 12-19…the Govs would end the OVC season with two straight league wins…the Govs would improve to 8-8 in the OVC, making it 19 straight seasons finishing at .500 or better…it would allow the Govs to end the season with an 8-5 home record…they would improve to 5-3 at home during OVC play…it would be their third win in February…the Govs would improve to 32-16 in the series…it would make Dave Loos 32-16 all-time against SEMO…it would make Loos 8-3 against SEMO coach Dicky Nutt…it would be Loos’ 444th career coaching victory and his 362nd APSU win.

What A Loss Would Mean: The Govs would fall to 11-20, their first 20-loss season since the 1992-93 season…it would drop them to 7-9 in the OVC, handing the Govs their first losing OVC season since 1992-93…it would make it two straight Govs’ losses in the series after winning all three games a year ago…it would be SEMO’s first regular-season sweep since the 1998-99 season…it would be Dave Loos’ second loss to Dicky Nutt, with the latter as SEMO coach…it would be head coach Dave Loos’ 365th career loss and 310th Austin Peay defeat.

Reserve Fund

Herdie LawrenceIn Austin Peay’s 85-67 win against UT Martin, Governors reserves scored 47 of the team’s points compared to just 10 by UT Martin. Freshman guard Herdie Lawrence led the way with a seasonbest 19 points while senior guard Justin Blake added 11 and freshman forward Chris Freeman had a career-best 10.

Sophomore Will Triggs added seven points. APSU’s bench combined for 74 percent shooting, going 20 of 27 from the floor.

Five Guys

John FraleyWhen Austin Peay placed five players–Herdie Lawrence (19 points), John Fraley (16), Josh Terry (15), Justin Blake (11) and Chris Freeman (10)–in double figures against UT Martin, it was only the second time this season the Govs achieved that feat, but the first time in a regulation game.

They also placed five players in double figures during the CBE overtime loss to Detroit.

Three-Point High

When Austin Peay converted 8 of 15 three pointers against UT Martin the 53.3 percent shooting tied for the fourth best percentage this season. The Govs’ best effort was 62.5 percent (5-of-8) against Tennessee, followed by a 7-12 effort (58.3 percent) against Murray State and 5-of-9 (55.6 percent) against SIU Edwardsville. The Govs also shot 8-for-15 against Rochester.

The eight makes in Thursday’s game tied the Rochester performance for most conversions this season.

Freshman Adjustment

Chris FreemanAustin Peay freshman Herdie Lawrence and Chris Freeman combined to score 29 points, Thursday, at UT Martin. Both tallied career bests.

Lawrence finished with 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting, including four three pointers, while Freeman ended with 10 points, being perfect from the floor in four tries.

Next Game

Action shifts to Nashville for Ohio Valley Converence Tournament

Ohio Valley Conference Basketball ChampionshipAction shifts to Nashville for OVC tourney Austin Peay will makes its 28th consecutive appearance in the Ohio Valley Conference tournament this week.

First-round play begins Wednesday, with the quarterfinals, Thursday, followed by the semifinals and finals, Friday and Saturday, respectively.

The Governors will play Wednesday night, the start dependent on APSU’s seed. The Govs could finish as high as the No. 6. If the Govs are the No. 6 or 7 seeds, they will play 8:00pm, Wednesday. If they end up as the No. 8 seed,they will play at 6:00pm.

The winner of the tourney’s first round games will play Thursday at 6:00pm and 8:00pm.

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