CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Eastern Kentucky University’s men’s basketball team got off to a slow start and suffered a 93-75 loss at Austin Peay State University on Thursday at the Dunn Center in Clarksville, Tennessee.
The Governors hit on 74 percent of their shots and forced 11 turnovers in the first 12 and a half minutes of the game to build a 42-21 lead.
Eastern closed within 15 on back-to-back 3-pointers by Dujuanta Weaver, the second coming with 5:23 left in the first half made it 44-29. Weaver made three free throws with 0.4 seconds left in the opening frame, but APSU took a 21-point lead to the locker room at the break, 56-35.
Austin Peay shot 67 percent in the first half and turned 17 EKU turnovers into 27 points. The Govs were 8-for-12 from three-point range. The Colonels shot 42 percent in the first 20 minutes.
A dunk by Nick Mayo to start the second half got the visitors within 19. The closest the Colonels got in the second half was 16 when Jomaru Brown threw down a dunk with 1:21 left to play.
Brown led Eastern Kentucky (7-7, 0-1 OVC) with career-high 26 points. The freshman guard made 11-of-15 from the field and had three steals. Weaver finished with four three-pointers and 15 points. Mayo had 15 points and nine rebounds.
Jarrett Givens had a game-best 25 points for Austin Peay (9-5, 1-0 OVC). The Govs shot 57 percent from the field for the game and finished 11-for-21 (52 percent) from behind the arc.
Eastern turned the ball over just six times in the second half and out-scored APSU by three.
EKU will play at in-state rival Murray State University on Saturday at 8 p.m. ET.
