APSU Governors Basketball drops home game to East Tennessee 80-74

Clarksville, TN – East Tennessee staved off a second-half Austin Peay State University rally as it defeated the Governors, 80-74, Wednesday night, in non-conference basketball action played at Dave Aaron Arena.

The loss snapped the Governors modest two-game winning streak and dropped them to 4-4 on the season. East Tennessee improved to 4-5.

Trailing by 11 at halftime and still by 10 early in the second half, the Governors used a 18-6 run to build a four-point second-half lead, 56-52, with 11:41 left in the game. However, they could not maintain the surge. After the Buccaneers came back to tie the game at 56, it became a seesaw affair. When Travis Betran nailed a three pointer with 4:52 left, it gave APSU a 67-66 advantage.

But that proved to be APSU’s last lead. The Bucs Rawshawn Rembert answered right back with a three before Damarius Smith tied it with two free throws with 4:19 left. But that would be the last time it would be tied as APSU’s inability to secure the basketball led to the Govs’ undoing.

The Govs, whose 12 turnovers contributed greatly to the first-half deficit, committed turnovers on four straight possessions. Before APSU could score again, it was were down by six.

Still the Governors managed to crawl back into the contest. Down by four with 1:19 left, Travis Betran nailed a long three. But as the night would have it, the Govs could not even turn a pair of defensive stands into positives. First, Will Triggs blocked Jalen Riley’s layup attempt, only to have the ball go out of bounds.

Then Chris Horton blocked A.J. Merriweather’s lane jumper, only to have Rembert snagged the rebound near the three-point circle with 38 seconds left. The Govs then fouled Rembert with 25 seconds left. He made both of the one-and-one free throw to give ETSU a 77-74 lead.

Betran missed a three with 17 seconds left and the Govs again were forced to foul. ETSU put the game away at the free-throw line.

Betran led the Govs with 20 points, but also committed seven turnovers. Ed Dyson, who had scored in single digits in each of the last five contests after opening the season with a pair of double-digit performances, finished with 15 points. Horton ended with 13 points and nine rebounds. The Govs shot a respectable 46.2 percent from the floor but took only 54 shots because the abundance of turnovers.

East Tennessee proved to be balanced offensively with Merriweather, Rembert and Riley each scored 18 points. The Bucs held a 41-33 rebound advantage against APSU, with 16 coming on the offensive glass leading to 14 second-chance points.

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