APSU Sports Information
Huntsville, AL – Austin Peay State University (APSU) men’s basketball team prevailed in a hard-fought 73-61 road victory against Alabama A&M at T.M. Elmore Gymnasium, Saturday, December 1st. With the win, the Governors wrap their month-long odyssey with back-to-back road victories.
In a contest that saw both teams combine for 51 fouls—or a whistle every 45 seconds, give or take—it was a war of attrition ultimately won by the Governors thanks to better ball control, better rebounding and taking advantage of opportunities when they arose.
The Govs started hot and didn’t let up, racing out to a 10-2 lead. In a new wrinkle for this one, Austin Peay (4-4) was able to run some things through the high post, letting the big men like Ivan Cucak and Terry Taylor use their height to find cutters or kick the ball out when the defense collapsed on them.
And when they weren’t doing that, run outs were leading to easy buckets. By halftime, Austin Peay was hitting 50.0 percent from the floor and had staked a 40-23 lead.
Austin Peay was a little sluggish to start the second half and the Bulldogs pulled to within four at one point. But the Governors were continually able to exploit matchups, getting Alabama A&M (0-8) caught out in rotation numerous times for buckets.
If that didn’t work, they could drive the lane and count on the Bulldogs to foul; the hosts were gracious in this regard, committing 31 fouls, which lead to a 27-of-43 night for the Govs at the line (season-highs for free-throws made and attempted and opponent fouls against the Govs).
With just over five minutes to go in the contest, Gerron Scissum hit a free-throw to cut the Austin Peay lead to six points. A quick 7-2 run brought on by four points from Zach Glotta pushed the lead back to double digits for good.
The Difference
A season-high 26 turnovers forced by the Governors led to 27 points, a nine-point (27-18) advantage in points off turnover—Austin Peay is now 3-0 this season when outscoring opponents in points off turnover. That included 14 steals, another season-high by the Governors.
APSU Notably
The Govs moved to 4-0 all-time against the SWAC.
With the win, Austin Peay earned back-to-back true non-conference road wins for the first time since December 12th-15th, 2010 against Saint Louis and Chattanooga.
Speaking of free-throws, Steve Harris is now 10-for-10 all-time at the line against Alabama A&M.
While his career-high five-game double-digit scoring streak came to an end, Glotta is still averaging 13.7 points over his last six games.
For the second time this season and fifth in his career, senior Chris Porter-Bunton led the Govs in scoring with 16 points. He was 6-of-6 from the floor, the best shooting performance by percentage by a Governor this season. It also was his fifth double-digit scoring night of the 2018-19 season.
The three-pointers made (three) and attempted (13) by Alabama A&M were a season-low by an Austin Peay opponent.
Grad transfer Jabari McGhee scored 10 points, his first foray into double-figures as a Governor.
The 44 shots attempted by the Governors were their fewest since November 13th, 2017 at Virginia.
Up Next for APSU Govs
At long last, Austin Peay is returning to the Dunn Center! The Govs welcome Calvary to Clarksville for a 4:00pm, December 8th contest that also will be SAAC’s Help-an-Elf game; bring a new, unopened and unwrapped toy and receive free admission.
