Recap by Jeff Smith
No. 1 Austin Peay Governors 75, No. 8 Tennessee State Tigers 71
Austin Peay (20-8) won their 28th consecutive game at home and advanced to the semifinals, where they will face Eastern Kentucky on Friday with a 75-71 OVC first-round win over Tennessee State. Senior center Josh Lewis and junior guard Anthony Davis led the way for the host Governors with the duo scoring 17 points each in the victory. Junior forward Roshaun Bowens led Tennessee State (7-21) with 18 points while Bruce Price, senior guard Garrett Richardson and junior forward Jeremy Jackson had 13 points each. The teams traded the lead five times in the first half, with neither team able to take a lead of more than five points, before TSU went to the break up one at 39-38. A jump shot by Davis gave Austin Peay a 60-52 with 10:19 to play, but Tennessee State fought back and got within 68-67 with 4:51 left on a 3-point shot by Richardson.
That was as close as the Tigers would get as Davis nailed a trey with 2:08 to play to give APSU a 74-69 lead, and the Governors held on for the win. The victory was the 300th in the career of Austin Peay coach Dave Loos.
No. 2 Murray State Racers 92, No. 7 Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles 75
Six Murray State players reached double-figures, led by senior forward Chris Shumate’s 17, as the Racers beat Tennessee Tech 92-75 in the first round of the Ohio Valley Conference tournament Tuesday night. Senior forward Antione Whelchel added 15 points and 9 rebounds for Murray (26-5), while senior forward Cuthbert Victor added 13, junior forward Kelvin Brown and senior center Andi Hornig had 12 each and senior guard Kevin Paschel chipped in with 10 points and six assists. Senior guard Cameron Crisp led the way for the Golden Eagles (13-15) topping all scorers with 30 points on 11-of-22 shooting from the field and an 8-of-13 performance from three-point range. Junior forward Willie Jenkins finished the night with 21 points for Tech, while senior guard Will Moore added 10 in the defeat.
No. 3 Morehead State Eagles 82, No. 6 Jacksonville State Gamecocks 68
Senior forward Ricky Minard scored 36 points on 9-of-17 shooting from the field, and 16-of-22 from the line, to lead Morehead State (16-12) to an 82-68 win over Jacksonville State (14-14) in the first round of the Ohio Valley Conference tournament Tuesday night. Junior forward Chad McKnight contributed 15 points, while junior guard Ramon Kelly tallied 13. Jacksonville State sophomore guard Walker D. Russell was 9-of-9 from the line and 11-of-18 from the field for 32 points and also had 10 assists, while senior forward Trent Eager chipped in 10 points to round out double-figure scoring.
No. 4 Eastern Kentucky Colonels 81, No. 5 Samford Bulldogs 61
Senior forward Jon Bentley and sophomore guard Matt Witt scored 22 points each to lead Eastern Kentucky to an 81-61 victory over Samford Tuesday night in the first round of Ohio Valley Conference tournament. EKU senior guard Mike Scott added 15 points as the Colonels (14-14) advanced to the conference semifinals for the first time since 1995, while Samford ended the season at 12-16. Bentley, who scored 10 points in the final seven minutes of the first half, was 9-of-11 from the field on the night, while Witt made four of his teams eight shots from 3-point range. Senior center Phillip Ramelli led the Bulldogs with 21 points, while senior guard Tyson Dorsey added 11.
