APSU Men’s Basketball defeats Howard 69-67 in final seconds

Washington, D.C. – Freshman Elijah Hutchins-Everett’s basket with 2.7 seconds left lifted the Austin Peay State University (APSU) men’s basketball team past Howard, 69-67 in a thriller on Friday afternoon inside Burr Gymnasium.

The Govs held on to a five-point lead with 1:49 remaining before Howard rallied back to tie the game with 32 seconds remaining. With the shot and game clock separated by two seconds, the Govs dribbled the ball at the top of the key as the clock winded down. Junior Carlos Paez drove left and spun back right, finding Hutchins-Everett who proceeded to spin right and lay the ball up with a defender draped on top of him to give APSU a two-point advantage.

On the ensuing possession, the Bison got the ball across half court and got off a three-point attempt that bounced off the right side of the rim. The Govs rallied from eight points down with seven minutes remaining for their second straight road victory.

For the second game in a row, the Govs had four score in double figures led by junior Cameron Copeland with 16 points. Copeland was 7-of-11 from the field to go along with six rebounds, two assists, and seven steals. Copeland’s seven steals were two shy of the single-game school record.

Behind Copeland was the duo of freshman Elijah Hutchins-Everett and redshirt senior Tariq Silver with 14 points each. Silver was 5-of-12 from the field against the Bison and was 4-of-9 from behind the three-point line. Silver also had one rebound, two assists, and two steals in 31 minutes. Hutchins-Everett notched his second straight double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Rounding out the quartet of double-digit scoring was redshirt freshman Caleb Stone-Carrawell with 10 points. Stone-Carrawell recorded his fourth straight double-digit performance, going 4-of-12 from the field with five rebounds and six assists.

As a team, the Govs shot 47.4 percent from the field and was 10-of-24 from behind the three-point line. It’s the third straight game the Govs have notched double-digit threes and the first time the Govs have accomplished such a feat on the road. The Govs forced Howard to commit 24 turnovers on Friday night, scoring 21 points off of Bison’s miscues.

It was a strong defensive effort from the APSU Govs to begin the game, forcing back-to-back Howard turnovers leading to a 6-2 lead. The Bison rallied by making three of their next four field goals to earn their first lead of the game at 13-12 with 14:15 remaining. Howard held a two-point lead at the 11:45 mark before back-to-back three-pointers from freshman Drew Calderon.

The game was tied at 26 with less than four minutes to play before Howard embarked on a 4-0 run to earn a 30-26 advantage. To end the half, it was the Cameron Copeland show as the junior scored the final seven Govs points. The personal 7-0 run by Copeland gave Austin Peay State University a 36-34 lead at halftime as Howard was left scoreless from the field in the final 1:57 of the first half.

Both teams traded points to begin the second half as APSU started the half 1-of-4 from the field while Howard was just 3-of-9 from the field. The game was tied at 41 before Silver knocked down two consecutive three-pointers to give APSU a 47-43 lead with 13:30 remaining. The Bison rallied back once again, making three of their next four field goals to tie the game at 49 at the halfway point of the second half.

Howard earned its largest lead of the game with 6:29 remaining as the Bison went on a 14-2 run to grab a 59-51 lead. After an APSU timeout, the Govs started to rally back, embarking on a 5-0 run with three’s from Paez to trip the Howard lead down to three with 5:37 left. Austin Peay tied the game at 62 at the 3:30 mark after a corner three from Silver.  APSU regained the lead on the next possession off a floater from Hutchins-Everett with 2:53 left.

The APSU Govs grabbed a five-point lead with 90 seconds remaining thanks to Paez knocking down his second three-pointer of the night. The three from Paez capped off a 16-3 run for the Govs as Howard was held scoreless for nearly four minutes.  

Howard stormed back and tied the game at 67 with 32 seconds remaining before Hutchins-Everett laying in the game-winner with 2.3 seconds to go. Howard’s game-winning three-point attempt fell short as the Govs captured their second straight victory on the road.

Next Up For APSU Men’s Basketball

The Austin Peay State University men’s basketball team heads to the Lone Star state for a showdown with TCU on Monday, November 29th. Tip-off is set for 7:00pm. The road game at TCU will be the end of a season-long five-game road swing for the Govs.  

For all the latest information on Austin Peay State University Athletics, please visit letsgopeay.com. For up-to-the-minute updates, follow the APSU Govs on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Box Score

Austin Peay 69, Howard 67