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NASHVILLE, TENN. -- The second-seeded Eastern Kentucky men's basketball team held off a furious rally from third-seeded Tennessee Tech and advanced to their second O'Reilly OVC Tournament championship in three years with a 57-54 victory on Friday night in the Gaylord Entertainment Center. The Colonels will face top-seeded Austin Peay at 8 p.m. (Eastern) on Saturday night with a chance to earn a berth in the NCAA Tournament. Saturday night's championship will be shown live on ESPN2.

Tennessee Tech twice got within one point in the final 30 seconds of the contest, but Eastern Kentucky sophomore Mike Rose connected on all four of his free throw attempts during that span to preserve the Colonels' victory.

Both Rose and conference co-Freshman of the Year Adam Leonard finished with a game-best 16 points while three different Colonel players grabbed a team-high five rebounds.

Eastern Kentucky committed one more turnover than Tennessee Tech (19-18) and the Golden Eagles scored 19 points off the Colonels' mistakes.

In the first half, Eastern Kentucky went ahead by as many as four points before playing almost five minutes without a basket, allowing the Golden Eagles to stay within striking range. With 7:38 on the clock, junior Darnell Dialls' put-back ended the scoring drought but Tennessee Tech knotted the score on its following possession.

The Golden Eagles twice took a six-point lead before holding a 27-25 advantage at the break.

Less than three minutes into the second half, consecutive three-point field goals from Leonard and Rose put the Colonels back ahead, a lead that they wouldn't relinquish.

Eastern Kentucky took its largest lead of the game (47-38) with 8:40 on the clock but Tennessee Tech responded with six unanswered points as the Colonels missed their next five shots.

The Colonels twice extended their lead to seven, connecting on their final field goal of the contest at the 3:46 mark, before missing their final four shots of the game. Tennessee Tech hit four free throws to cut its deficit to three with just over a minute left before getting within one point off a jumper with 30 seconds remaining.

Belton Rivers and Anthony Fisher led Tennessee Tech, each scoring 13 points.

Eastern Kentucky will face top-seeded Austin Peay in tomorrow's championship game, a repeat match-up from the 2005 title contest.