RICHMOND, Ky. – Austin Peay scored the final eight points of the contest to earn a 59-57 victory over host Eastern Kentucky Saturday afternoon in men's basketball. The loss was the first of the season for the Colonels (6-3, 1-1 OVC) in McBrayer Arena while the Governors (3-4, 2-1) tallied their first road win of the year.

It looked as though Eastern was on its way to second straight conference win after senior Julian Mascoll hit two free throws with 1:50 remaining to make the score, 57-51. However, the Governors forced four EKU turnovers down the stretch to keep the Colonels off the scoreboard the rest of the way. Two free throws by Landon Shipley and a bucket by Fernandez Lockett cut the Eastern lead to two points, 57-55, with 55 ticks left.

The Colonels tried to set up a play on their next trip down the court, but a loose ball resulted in a scrum at midcourt where Austin Peay was awarded possession due to the jump ball arrow. With five seconds remaining, Derek Wright knocked down his third three-pointer of the day from the left wing to put the Governors ahead, 58-57. Austin Peay stole the ensuing inbound pass and converted 1-of-2 free throws to stretch its lead to 59-57. Freshman Adam Leonard missed a desperation three-pointer from midcourt as time expired allowing the Govs to win at Eastern for the first time in three years.

Eastern Kentucky scored the first four points of the contest and never trailed in the opening half. The Colonels built a 28-21 cushion late in the stanza before settling on a 28-23 lead at intermission. In the first half, EKU connected on 12-of-14 (85.7 percent) shots inside the three-point line.

Austin Peay opened the second half with a 13-3 run to take its first lead of the contest, 36-31. Back-to-back-to-back three-pointers by Leonard allowed the Colonels regain the advantage, 50-45, with 6:15 left. Eastern then held the lead until the final five seconds.

Shipley came off the bench for APSU and led all scorers with 18 points. Wright was a perfect 4-of-4 from the field to tally 14 points while Drake Reed added 10.

For Eastern Kentucky, Mascoll, Leonard and sophomore Mike Rose all finished with 11 points. The Colonels missed their first 14 three-point attempts of the game before going 5-of-25 (20 percent) from behind the arc.

Eastern Kentucky has the next week off to concentrate on fall semester final exams before hitting the road for a pair of OVC contests at Eastern Illinois (Dec. 18) and UT Martin (Dec. 20).