FINAL STATS

JACKSONVILLE – Austin Peay was able to hold off a second-half push by the Jacksonville State men's basketball on Tuesday night, when the Governors got out of Pete Mathews Coliseum with a 72-60 Ohio Valley Conference win.

The Gamecocks (11-15, 5-12 OVC) were able to erase a 12-point first-half deficit and led twice in the second half, but a late run by the Governors (15-11, 11-5 OVC) did the home team in before 2,124 fans at Pete Mathews Coliseum.

Senior Jonathan Toles and sophomore Jeremy Bynum each scored 13 points to lead JSU, but it was Peay's Drake Reed that would steal the show. The senior scored 30 points and grabbed 14 boards, thanks to 20 points and seven boards in the second half.

Toles and Bynum teamed up with senior DeAndre Bray to round out a group of three Gamecocks in double figures. Bray, an Atlanta native, dished five assists, while sophomore Nick Murphy grabbed a team-high eight boards.

Anthony Campbell joined Reed as the only two Govs in double figures. Reed was 11-for-20 from the floor and 2-for-3 from behind the arc, including a 30-footer as the shot clock expired late in the second half.

The Govs took advantage of a sluggish first half by JSU, building a 12-point lead by the 6:40 mark of the opening frame. The Gamecocks pulled to within seven at 26-19 with 2:49 on the clock, and APSU pushed the lead back to nine before a 10-0 Gamecocks run that ended with them holding their first lead of the night at 29-28 with 17:40 to play in the game.

APSU scored the next four to reclaim the advantage, only to watch JSU put together another short run to build a 38-32 lead with 14:21 remaining in the game. They led by five as late as the 12:22 mark, but Reed and the Governors made their final run to take the lead for good. A 14-1 stretch by the Govs put them up 52-44 with just over eight minutes to play.

The Gamecocks cut the lead to one on a Bynum trey with 5:26 on the clock, but APSU was able to hold off the JSU rally to pull off its 11th win in 12 all-time meetings in the series.

JSU will be on the road on Saturday, when it takes on Georgia Southern in a non-conference game that was scheduled as a result of the ESPNU BRacketBusters pool. Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m. CT in Statesboro, Ga., and the game will be broadcast live on the JSU Radio Network.