Austin Peay defeats UT Martin 88-85 but fails to make OVC Tournament

APSU Sports Information

Martin, TN – Travis Betran scored a career-high 32 points while Chris Horton added 20 points and 16 rebounds to give Austin Peay State University an 88-85 victory, Saturday afternoon, against UT Martin in Ohio Valley Conference action at the Elam Center.

By doing so the Panthers grabbed the eighth and final seed in the tourney that begins Wednesday. As a result, the Govs will not be making the trip to Nashville for the tournament.

For a second straight game, Betran did all he could to keep the Govs tourney hopes alive. After scoring 28 points in the Govs 83-80 loss at Southeast Missouri, Thursday night, the senior guard was even better against UT Martin, despite a rugged start.

He opened the game 0-of-4 and 2-of-8 from the floor and finished 10-of-23, including four three pointers in doing his best to extend his Govs career. Luckily for the Govs, center Chris Horton snapped out of his recent scoring funk with 14 first-half points, making 7-of-8 shots. His effort allowed the Govs to overcome an 11-0 deficit, which APSU answered with a 21-5 run.

But the game was tied at 38 at halftime and remained close through much of the second half. The Govs finally gained a little traction, going on an 8-0 run with Betran and Zavion Williams connecting on three pointers, to go up, 74-67, with 7:04. But at run’s end, Betran went down with a leg cramp. With his absence the Govs also lost much of their offensive footing.

As a result, UT Martin came back, led by Terence Smith, who hit four free throws and a field on an 11-4 run that saw the Skyhawks take an 81-80 lead on a Bobby Jones three pointer with 2:14 left.

But Will Triggs made a pair of Govs’ free throws with 1:46 remaining to give APSU the one-point lead. Then the Skyhawks’ Justin Childs was called for a walk that gave back the ball to the Govs. Betran then was fouled and connected on two free throws with 1:14 left.

UTM’s Smith then was fouled by his APSU namesake Damarius Smith—his fifth foul—and the Skyhawk junior made both to again make it a one-point game with 1:00 left in the game.

Betran missed a baseline jumper with 30 seconds left but Horton snared the rebound with 28 seconds remaining. Struggling from the free-throw line much of the final half of OVC play, Horton stepped to the line and made both for an 86-83 advantage.

After a Skyhawks timeout the home team chose to work for a potential game-tying three pointer. Mike Liabo attempt came up short and Bobby Jones was fouled with 2.8 seconds left. Jones made both free throws to cut the deficit to one, 86-85.

Betran broke free and was fouled with 2.1 seconds left. Again the stepped to the line and made both. In fact, his second free throw made him 8-for-8 at the line for the day and allowed him (107 of 122/.8770) to pass Tim Thomas (1978-79; 64 of 73/.8767) for the single-season free throw percentage record. Betran also surpassed the 1,000-point mark with his 32 points. He finished with 1008.

UTM threw ensuing inbounds pass to midcourt and it was knocked away by the Govs out of bounds with 1.0 second left. Martin was able to throw up a desperation shot that didn’t touch iron as the buzzer sound to allow the Govs to hold onto the victory.

In addition to Betran and Horton, Triggs—playing in his final game like Betran–narrowly missed a double-double with 14 points and nine rebounds.

APSU made 21 of 25 (84 percent) of its free-throw attempts while shooting just below 50 percent from the floor (30 of 62, 48.4 percent).

Terence Smith led UTM with 20 points while Dee Oldham added 18. The Skyhawks stayed in the game by knocking down 11 three pointers.

APSU finished the season 12-18 overall and 6-10 in the OVC. UTM ended at 8-23 and 3-13 in league play.

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