RICHMOND, Ky. – Senior guard Jason McLeish scored 26 of his game-high 28 points in the second half to help the Eastern Kentucky men's basketball team earn a 76-73 victory over Austin Peay Thursday night in McBrayer Arena. The win was the fourth straight in conference play for Eastern (14-14, 11-8 OVC) while Austin Peay (16-13, 10-9) falls to 2-6 in league road contests.

The visiting Governors took a slim 35-31 lead into halftime thanks to holding EKU's two leading scorers – senior Matt Witt (19.0 ppg) and McLeish (17.8) – to a combined four points. Austin Peay then tallied the first five points of the second half to build its largest lead of the game, 40-31. Consecutive three-pointers by McLeish quickly got the Colonels back within striking distance and set up a tightly contested final 15 minutes of action.

Senior Alonzo Hird's lay-up at 10:53 put Eastern Kentucky on top, 46-45, for the first time since the score was 11-10 early in the game. From that point on, there were eight ties and four lead changes down the stretch. A pair of free throws by sophomore Darnell Dialls followed by one of junior Michael Brock's five buckets on the evening made the score 58-54 in favor of the Colonels with 4:37 showing on the clock.

A couple of minutes later, Derek Wright capped a 6-0 Austin Peay run with a lay-up to put the Governors ahead, 62-60. After the two teams exchanged four points, McLeish netted his fifth trifecta of the night and gave Eastern the lead for good, 67-66. McLeish tallied 11 straight Colonel points in the waning minutes helping EKU establish a 71-66 cushion with 30 seconds remaining.

Eastern Kentucky converted 9-of-10 (90 percent) free throws in the final minute of action to hold off Austin Peay and keep EKU in the hunt for a home OVC Tournament quarterfinal game next Tuesday night.

McLeish's 28 points were one shy of his career best. He went 5-for-5 (100 percent) from behind the three-point line and 9-for-10 (90 percent) at the charity stripe. Meanwhile, Dialls and Brock each chipped in with 13 points apiece while shooting a combined 71.4 percent (10-of-14) from the field.

Four players finished in double figures for Austin Peay led by senior Zac Schlader's 16 tallies. Fernandez Lockett came off the bench to add 14 points while Kyle Duncan hauled in a game-high 10 rebounds.

Eastern Kentucky concludes the regular season on Saturday, Feb. 25, with the Colonels celebrating Senior Day in a home contest against Tennessee State. Tip time is scheduled for 1 p.m. Austin Peay finishes its regular season on Saturday at Morehead State with a starting time of 7:45 p.m.