FINAL STATS

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – A big night for Austin Peay's Drake Reed, coupled with a big first-half run, proved too much for the Jacksonville State men's basketball team to overcome on Saturday night, when the Govs held on for an 86-80 Ohio Valley Conference win at the Dunn Center.

The Govs (12-7, 8-1 OVC) used an early 20-4 run and a 29-point effort from their All-OVC forward Reed to hold on to first place in the OVC and defeat the Gamecocks (8-10, 2-7 OVC) for the fifth time in as many meetings at the Dunn Center.

The Gamecocks shot 53 percent from the floor and had two players score 20 or more points for the first time since the fifth game of the season against VMI. Sophomore Jeremy Bynum led the Gamecocks with 21 points, while also grabbing a team-high six rebounds, and senior Jonathan Toles added 20 points on a 5-for-7 effort from the floor that included a 4-for-5 outing from behind the arc.

JSU had four players score in double figures, but Peay shot 56 percent with a pair of 20-point scorers of its own and was able to hold off a pair of second-half threats by JSU. Senior DeAndre Bray had a good night setting up the Gamecock offense. The Atlanta native, who is fifth in the JSU record books in career assists, dished eight in the game to run his career total to 483, while turning the ball over just once. He needs just 17 assists to become the fifth player in school history to record 500 assists in a career.

The Govs also had a pair of players surpass the 20-point mark, with Wes Channels joining Reed in that category with 22 points. The team's leading scorer in OVC play, Channels was 5-of-6 from 3-point land to account for the majority of his production. Reed and John Fraley each grabbed seven rebounds to lead the Govs to a 31-27 advantage on the glass.

Freshman Geddes Robinson and sophomore Nick Murphy, the Gamecocks' two Bronx, N.Y., natives, each scored 14 points to account for the Gamecocks' double-digit scorers.

The Govs went 7-for-11 from behind the arc in the first half to maintain the lead for almost the entire 20 minutes. Jacksonville State held its only lead at 17-16 with 12:28 on the clock, but Peay responded with a 20-4 run that built a 36-21 advantage with just over seven minutes before the half. The Govs kept holding off JSU to take a 45-34 lead into the locker room.

Reed led all scorers in the first half with 12 points, while Channels added 11 for the Govs. Toles led JSU with nine points. Reed pulled in five rebounds to lead his Govs to an 18-11 advantage on the glass in the half.

Jacksonville State would pull closer and closer as the second half progressed and pulled to within six at 62-56 at the halfway point. Murphy missed a pair of free throws that would have cut the deficit to four and Toles traveled on JSU's next possession, a pair of miscues that led to three APSU points apiece and put the home team back up by 12 at 68-56 with 8:40 remaining.
The Gamecocks were able to cut the lead to as few as five on a Toles trey with 25 second to play, but there wasn't enough time remaining to allow them to draw any closer.

The Gamecocks will cap their four-game road swing next week with a two-game OVC trip up north. They start the trip in Cape Girardeau, Mo., on Thursday, when they take on Southeast Missouri at 7:45 p.m. and close it at 7 p.m. on Saturday against Eastern Illinois in Charleston, Ill.