Matt Witt scored 23 points and led a hard-nosed Eastern Kentucky team into battle against Austin Peay on Friday night in the semifinals of the OVC Tournament, but fell to the Govs for the third time this year 62-57.
The two teams battled through seven lead changes and four ties in the opening half as Eastern Kentucky jumped out to a 12-5 lead.
From there, the Govs put together one of their patented defensive-led runs and took their first lead of the night with 12:07 left when Anthony Davis scored in the paint to give his team a 14-13 lead. Austin Peay would go on to take its largest lead of the first half at 20-17 with 9:33 left on a free throw by Maurice Hampton.
EKU battled back to take a 22-20 lead after Julian Mascoll scored on a steal and fast break lay-up with 8:00 left and the Colonels built a seven points lead with three minutes left. APSU managed to cut the lead to 34-32 at the intermission as the Govs shot 55.0 percent (11-of-20) in the opening half.
Austin Peay come out and scored the first seven points to open the second and the Govs never trailed again. However, the Colonels would not go away.
The Govs ran out to a seven-point advantage at 47-40, but Michael Haney and Jon Bentley connected in the paint and Ben Rushing hit a huge three-pointer, cutting the lead to 49-47 with 9:25 to play. However, it would end up being the closest EKU would come for the remainder of the game as the Govs simply refused to let the Colonels into the game.
The Governor defense limited EKU to just 32.1 shooting in the second half and held a 28-19 advantage on the defensive boards.
"I am extremely proud of my team," said EKU head coach Travis Ford. "We've had a good journey and a very good second half of the year and I'm very proud of our young men. I told our team that we could hold our heads high because we played a very good basketball team."
Ford was also aware of what his team's trip to Nashville meant for his program.
He said, "It was special for us to make it to Nashville. Obviously, we wanted to win and we're disappointed that we didn't win. This was a good experience for us and our basketball team."
Austin Peay will face the winner of the Murray State-Morehead State game at 5 p.m. CT for the OVC's automatic berth into the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship.
POSTGAME NOTES
FOND FAREWELL: The game was the last in the career of five EKU players. Bentley, Tim Volpenhein, Mike Scott, Damian McPherson, and Champ Slaughter all bid farewell to the team at the conclusion of the game.
POSTGAME ADDRESS: After head coach Travis Ford addressed his team at the end of the game, Athletic Director John Shafer and EKU President Joanne Glasser spoke to the team. Glasser's message to the team was that they had exceeded everyone's expectations this season and that the team had earned a great deal of respect over the course of the year.
WITT CONTINUES HOT STREAK: Matt Witt's 23 points led the Colonels in the game and gave him 10 games in which he netted 20 or more points this season. Witt has poured in 20-plus points in five of the last six games and has led EKU's offensive attack in seven of the last eight games.
BRIEFLY: Tonight's semifinal appearance was the first for the Colonels in 10 years … Travis Ford is the first EKU bench boss to lead his squad to consecutive OVC playoff appearances since Mike Calhoun in 1994-95 and 1995-96 … The Colonels now own a 27-26 overall record in OVC playoff history … Michael Haney concludes the season with 873 career points and Matt Witt stands at 832 career points … Ben Rushing made only one trey in the APSU game, but it pushed his streak of consecutive games with at least one three-pointer to 20.
