Box Score

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Turner Buttry's season-high 19 points helped Eastern Kentucky University overcome a 17-point deficit, but the Colonels fell 97-90 in overtime at Austin Peay on Thursday.
 
After Devontae Blanton's jumper with 1:02 left in regulation tied the game, 82-82, neither team scored in the final minute.  The Governors scored the first eight points of the extra period.  Anton Brookshire's 3-pointer capped the run and made it 90-82.  EKU's first points of overtime didn't come until the 2:20 mark when George Kimble III made two free throws.
 
EKU will hold its 2023-24 Atlantic Sun Conference Championship ring ceremony and unveil the championship banner before Saturday's 7 p.m. ET contest at home against Bellarmine.  The game will also air live over the air and on area cable systems on WBON-TV, providing coverage from Richmond to West Virginia.
 
Saturday's "White Out" game will be presented by Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield.  Fans are encouraged to wear white to the game.  This day will also be Faculty and Staff Appreciation Day, with discounted tickets available for EKU faculty and staff.
 
Kimble led the Colonels (8-10, 2-3 ASUN) with 27 points, going 16-for-17 at the free throw line.  Blanton had 21 points, a season-best 13 rebounds and two steals.  Buttry went 5-for-6 from 3-point range and 4-for-4 at the charity stripe to finish with 19 points.
 
A combination of a slow start shooting the ball for the Colonels and a hot start for the Governors (7-11, 2-3 ASUN) led to a 17-point deficit midway through the first half.  EKU started the game 1-for-16 and then 2-for-20 from the field.  Austin Peay hit 5-of-9 from 3-point range to begin the game.
 
Tate McCubbin's 3-pointer with 14:43 on the clock stretched the APSU lead to double figures for the first time, 17-7.  A run of six straight, capped by a LJ Thomas layup with 8:57 to go before the break gave the Governors their largest lead of 17, 28-11.
 
The Colonels scored 13 of the next 16.  Blanton scored six of the those and Buttry finished the run with a 3-pointer from the left wing to close the gap to seven, 31-24, with 5:24 remaining in the opening stanza.  Two free throws from Blanton got his squad within seven again, 36-29.  Cyril Martynov's putback as the half ended sent the visitors to the locker room down nine, 40-31.
 
Tyler Anderson's 3-pointer drew EKU to within six, 48-42, just over three minutes into the second half.  After two offensive rebounds, the Colonels drew to within four, 52-48, on a putback from Montavious Myrick.  Blanton's jumper with 8:15 to go in the second made it a 3-point game, 65-62.  Jackson Holt completed the comeback with 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions.  The second, from the left wing with 6:31 on the clock, tied it up 68-68.
 
Myrick finished with six points, a career-best 14 rebounds and six blocked shots.
 
EKU scored the final four points of regulation.  Before Blanton's jumper to tie it, Kimble hit two free throws with 1:52 to play.  Austin Peay did not score in the final two minutes of the second half.
 
McCubbin hit nine 3-pointers and led all players with 38 points.  He was 13-of-23 from the field and 9-of-15 from deep.  The Governors relied on the three ball all night, finishing 19-of-34 (56 percent) as a team from behind the arc.  APSU hit on just 40 percent (14-of-35) from inside the arc.
 
The Colonels out-rebounded Austin Peay 50-39 and pulled down 17 offensive rebounds.  However, EKU turned those offensive boards into just 15 second-chance points.  The Governors scored 11 second-chance points off just six offensive rebounds.
 
EKU shot 37 percent from the field for the game and went 9-for-27 (33 percent) from 3-point range.  The Colonels were 25-of-28 (89 percent) at the free throw line, out-scoring APSU by 13 at the stripe.