56.7 F
Clarksville
Thursday, March 28, 2024
HomeSportsJosh Robinson scores in final seconds to give APSU Basketball 76-75 win...

Josh Robinson scores in final seconds to give APSU Basketball 76-75 win over Delaware

APSU Sports Information

APSU Men's Basketball - Austin Peay State UniversityOxford, OH – On the same day he scored his 1,000th career point, junior Josh Robinson dropped in the game-winning bucket with 1.9 seconds left to lift the Govs to a 76-75 win against Delaware at the Tarkett Sports Classic.

Austin Peay junior Josh Robinson drains the game winner with 1.9 seconds left in the game. (APSU Sports Information)
Austin Peay junior Josh Robinson drains the game winner with 1.9 seconds left in the game. (APSU Sports Information)

After the Blue Hens went up 75-74 on a free-throw, Robinson drove the length of the floor and laid in the final two of his 23 points over the Blue Hens defense

A balanced first-half attack gave the Govs a 38-36 lead going into the half.

Senior Kenny Jones (nine points, eight rebounds) and junior Dre’Kalo Clayton (eight points) controlled the interior, while Robinson scored eight in a back-and-forth battle that featured four ties and 10 lead changes in the opening 20 minutes alone.

The second half turned into the Kenny and Josh Show, with the duo combining for 32 of the Governors 38 second half points—17 for Jones, 15 for Robinson. After being up two at the half, Austin Peay roared out on a 17-5 run to open the second half, with Robinson scoring eight, including his 1,000th career point on a three-pointer with 18:23 to go, during this stretch.

The lead would reach 15 with 9:29 left on an emphatic Jones dunk, but Delaware would chip away at the lead thanks to a flurry of scoring from Devonne Pinkard; he scored 22 to lead the Blue Hens, including 13 in the final 4:56. He tied the game at 69 on a three with 2:29 to go, then put Delaware up three with 50 ticks left on another three-pointer.

Robinson responded with another three to tie it again with 34 seconds left. When Eric Carter went 1-of-2 from the line with 7.9 to go, that set the stage for Robinson’s last-second heroics.

The Difference

The Governors committed five turnovers total, fewest since December 30th, 2015, against Westminster. The last time the Govs committed that few against a Division I foe was February 14th, 2015 against UT Martin. Conversely, the Govs hassled Delaware into 13 turnovers, including one after Robinson’s go-ahead bucket.

Notably

  • Robinson became the 32nd Governor to reach the 1,000-point plateau, including the 13th guard and 11th since 2006 to do so.
  • Jones finished with career-highs in points (26) and rebounds (12) for his third straight double-double, the longest streak of his Austin Peay career.
  • After not procuring a win in a contetst where they lost the rebounding battle by 10 or more since 2013, the Governors did it twice this weekend; Austin Peay was out-rebounded 49-32 by Delaware and lost the board battle by 11 against Northern Kentucky, Friday.
  • The four combined steals by the two teams were the fewest in an Austin Peay game since February 26th, 2010 at Southeast Missouri (two for the Govs, four for Southeast Missouri).

Coaching Quotables

Head coach Dave Loos

“(Robinson) was able to go baseline to baseline, fortunately for us, and made a good shot there at the end. I’m proud of the way we ended the game.”

“We’ve got some rebounding issues and some baseline defending issues. We continue to give up the baseline, and that’s a big problem for us.”

“Nobody is coming out of here better than 2-1, so we did as well as anybody. We had a chance to win yesterday (against Miami); I wish we’d won three, but we won two and now we need a good week of practice to get ready to play again.”

Up Next for APSU Govs

A break for Thanksgiving is upon us before Austin Peay makes its return to the Dunn Center for a 7:00pm, Saturday, November 26th contest against Spalding.

RELATED ARTICLES

Latest Articles