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RICHMOND, Ky. – Austin Peay clinched its second consecutive OVC regular season title with a 65-59 win over the Eastern Kentucky University men’s basketball team Thursday night in McBrayer Arena. The Governors (20-10, 15-4 OVC) also completed the season sweep over the Colonels (14-14, 10-9).

Earnest Fields paced Austin Peay with his second double-double of the year – 16 points and 16 rebounds. Derek Wright added 14 points while Todd Babington chipped in with four three-pointers.

Junior Mike Rose led the Colonels with 19 points, 16 of which came in the first half. Senior Darnell Dialls, Eastern’s second leading scorer, was held to just four tallies, but did come away with a team-high 11 rebounds.

Eastern Kentucky opened the game by hitting 3-of-4 three-pointers to build an early 11-4 lead. A Kyle Duncan trifecta midway through the stanza put Austin Peay on top for the first time, 18-17. The back-and-forth half continued as an Adam Leonard lay-in put the Colonels ahead, 29-25. However, the Governors scored seven of the last nine points, including a Wright jumper right before intermission, to take a slim 32-31 lead into halftime.

The Governors went ahead by as many as six early in the second half, only to see EKU rally to regain the lead, 43-42, on an old-fashioned three-point play from senior Jamaal Douglas. A Dialls tip-in with 7:51 left made the score 51-48 in favor of the Colonels.

From there, Austin Peay responded with 10 consecutive points to take control of the game. Wes Channels capped the run with his third three-pointer to make the score 58-51 with 3:52 remaining. Eastern Kentucky clawed within four points on two occasions, but would get no closer the rest of the way.

Eastern Kentucky needs to defeat Tennessee State and have UT Martin as well as Samford lose Saturday to clinch the final home court seed for the upcoming OVC tournament. The Colonels host TSU as part of Senior Day on Saturday at 7 p.m.