APSU Men’s Basketball Falls to UT Martin in Thriller, 65-62

Clarksville, TN – It was a thrilling opening night of Ohio Valley Conference basketball inside the Winfield Dunn Center as the Austin Peay State University (APSU) men’s basketball team was unable to mount a late comeback in a 65-62 loss to UT Martin on Thursday night.

Trailing by five with 43 seconds left, the Govs trimmed their deficit down to one with under 10 seconds remaining and had two chances to take the lead late. However, a blocked shot and a turnover on the final possession for the Govs gave UT Martin the slim victory on the road.
 
The Govs were led by the duo of redshirt freshman Caleb Stone-Carrawell and freshman Elijah Hutchins-Everett who each scored in double figures. Stone-Carrawell notched his first career double-double with 15 points to go along with a career-high 10 rebounds. The Concord, NC, native was 5-of-12 from the field and had three assists, one block, and three steals.

Hutchins-Everett also had 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field. The Orange, NJ, native ranked second on the Govs with eight rebounds while having two steals and one assist in 24 minutes of action. The freshman center scored 10 of his 15 points in the second half.

Junior Carlos Paez earned eight points on 4-of-8 shooting from the field followed by Tariq Silver and Alec Woodard with six points each. All 10 Govs that saw the court on Thursday scored including 16 points off the bench.

As a team, the Govs shot 39.7 percent from the field and was 5-of-20 from behind the three-point line. APSU outrebounded UT Martin, 40-34 with the Govs holding an 11-5 advantage on the offensive glass. Defensively, the Govs forced UT Martin to commit 18 turnovers, scoring 10 points off of Skyhawk mistakes.

In the OVC opener for both squads, it was the Skyhawks that came out on the attack, making its first four field goals to earn an 11-2 lead just two minutes into the game. UT Martin continued to extend its lead, embarking on a 15-3 run over six minutes to gain an 18-5 lead with 13:07 remaining.

At the midway point of the first half, the Govs offense started to get rolling, going on a 9-0 run to cut the Skyhawk lead down to 18-14 with nine minutes remaining. The run for the Govs was highlighted by a three-pointer from Hutchins-Everett. UT Martin countered with six straight points before back-to-back three’s from Stone-Carrawell tied the game at 22 with six minutes left in the first half.

Late in the first half, Austin Peay State University knocked down three straight field goals, highlighted by a fast-break lay-up from Alec Woodard to tie the game at 30. Down the stretch, APSU held UT Martin scoreless the final 2:07 as the Govs scored four straight to take a 34-33 lead into the locker room. At the half, Stone-Carrawell led the Govs with 11 points on 3-of-5 shooting from the field.

The Skyhawks started the second half much like the first, embarking on a 6-0 run to regain the lead after three minutes of play. Austin Peay responded with a 6-0 run of its own to grab the lead at 40-39 with 15:40 remaining. It was a back and forth affair between both teams early in the second half as APSU made three straight field goals while UT Martin made four straight field goals.

UT Martin held a 54-46 advantage at the halfway point of the second half as Austin Peay was held scoreless from the field for over three minutes. However, after the halfway point the Govs defense started to lock in, holding the Skyhawks scoreless from the field for over seven minutes.  During the defensive stretch, the Govs battled to gain a one-point lead with two minutes remaining.

After the Govs took a one-point lead with less than two minutes remaining, UT Martin embarked on a quick 4-0 run to earn a 61-58 advantage with 1:11 to play. A Paez floater in the lane cut the UT Martin lead down to 63-60 with 24 seconds left, resulting in APSU fouling to put the Skyhawks on the free-throw line.

At the free-throw line, UT Martin missed its free-throw with a three-point lead, giving the Govs an opportunity to tie the game. On the ensuing possession, Paez connected on a jumper from just inside the free-throw line to trim the Skyhawks lead down to one. While quickly trying to inbound the ball, the Skyhawks threw it out of bounds, giving APSU the ball with less than 10 seconds remaining.
 
With the ball and down by one, the Govs got off a game-winning shot that was blocked before turning the ball over with 4.9 seconds left. After two made free-throws from UT Martin, the Govs threw up a half-court shot at the buzzer that missed the rim and gave the Skyhawks a road victory to open up OVC play.

Next Up For APSU Men’s Basketball

It’s a quick turnaround for the Austin Peay State University men’s basketball team, ringing in the new year on the road on Saturday, January 1st at Southeast Missouri. Tip-off is set for 4:00pm inside the Show Me Center.

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Box Score

UT Martin 65, Austin Peay 62