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CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – The Eastern Kentucky University men’s basketball team found itself in an early 16-point hole to host Austin Peay, but almost pulled off a comeback victory in an 82-79 defeat Monday night in Dave Aaron Arena. The Governors improve to 7-7 overall and 3-1 in the OVC while the Colonels fall to 7-7 and 1-3.

Eastern Kentucky never led on the evening as Austin Peay scored 14 of the first 17 points. Back-to-back three-pointers from Anthony Campbell then gave the Governors a 16-point lead, 29-13.

From there, the Colonels responded with a 15-2 spurt over the next four minutes to climb right back into the game. Junior Josh Taylor hit two trifectas during the stretch while junior Dayvon Ellis chipped in with two buckets as well.

However, following an Austin Peay timeout, the Governors regained momentum by scoring the final nine points of the half to take a 40-28 lead into halftime.

Eastern Kentucky trailed by double digits through much of the first 10 minutes of the second half before two consecutive three-pointers from freshman Joshua Jones cut the deficit to four, 60-56, with 9:22 left. Once again, Austin Peay bounced back with another run, this time seven straight points to push the advantage back to 11, 67-56.

The Colonels trailed by 13 points with 4:13 remaining before stringing together one final run. A Justin Stommes three-pointer brought EKU to within six points with 2:51 left, 76-70. Two free throws from Jones with 2:26 showing on the clock sliced the deficit to four points, 76-72. After an Austin Peay miss, Eastern Kentucky had two open three-pointers to bring the Colonels within one point, but could not convert.

Austin Peay finally sealed the victory with a Kyle Duncan lay-up to put the Governors ahead, 80-74, with 39 seconds remaining.

Jones paced Eastern Kentucky with a career-high 20 points. The freshman was 6-of-9 (66.7 percent) from the floor while netting five three-pointers. Taylor and Stommes combined for 29 tallies. Senior Mike Rose, the team’s leading scorer, was held to nine points and was 0-for-6 from three-point range.

APSU’s Drake Reed led all scorers with 31 points and was 10-for-10 at the free throw line. The Governors shot 55.1 percent (27-of-49) from the floor including 59.1 percent (13-of-22) in the second half.

Eastern Kentucky next returns home to face Jacksonville State on Thursday, Jan. 8. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m.