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RICHMOND, Ky. – The Eastern Kentucky University men’s basketball team squandered a six-point halftime lead and fell to conference leader Austin Peay, 61-52, Thursday night in McBrayer Arena. Senior Spencer Perrin recorded his second career double-double (19 points, 10 rebounds) in the losing effort.

The loss snaps the Colonels’ (11-10, 5-5 OVC) four-game winning streak, while the win – and Tennessee State’s loss to Morehead State – moves the Governors (14-8, 8-2 OVC) into sole possession of first place in the Ohio Valley Conference.

The game was a tale of two halves as EKU shot 41.2 percent (7-of-17) from three-point range in the first half and just 27.3 percent (3-of-11) from three-point range in the second half.

Perrin was the lone bright spot for the Colonels in the second half as he scored 13 of his 19 over the last 20 minutes of the game. Conversely, senior Justin Stommes scored 15 of his 18 in the first half, but was stifled to just three field goal attempts in the second half. Stommes scored all of his points on a career-high six three-pointers. The Colonel bench contributed zero points in the game.

Josh Terry and John Fraley paced the Govs down in the post with 14 points apiece while Caleb Brown contributed with 11 points.

Austin Peay went to the free throw line 31 times compared to just six for EKU. The Governors made 15-of-20 (75 percent) charity shots in the second half.

Stommes dominated the first half as he went 5-of-6 (83.3 percent) from deep and led all scorers at the break with 15 points. His fifth triple gave the Colonels their largest lead of the game, 29-22, with 2:59 on the clock. The Govs cut the lead to four, but a pair of free throws by senior Josh Daniel with 34 seconds left in the half sent EKU into the locker room at halftime up by six, 31-25.

APSU exploded out of the gate, opening the second stanza on a 10-0 run, to give the Govs a 36-31 lead a little more than three minutes into the half. However, Perrin single-handedly brought the Colonels back as he scored seven straight points to ignite a 10-3 EKU run to tie the score, 43-43, with 10:31 left in the game.

The Govs responded with seven straight points over the next four minutes highlighted by a Brown three-pointer to make the score 50-43 with less than seven minutes to play. A Stommes three-pointer – his only points in the second half – pulled EKU to within four, 54-50, with 3:30 left in the game, but the Colonels made only one field goal the rest of the way.

EKU returns to action on Saturday night when the Colonels host second–place Tennessee State in McBrayer Arena at 7 p.m.