Tech stays on the road with game Saturday at Appalachian State

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee Tech had a road victory within its grasp Thursday night, leading almost the entire contest at Austin Peay, but the host Govs tied things in the final minutes and went on to hand the Golden Eagles a 77-72 overtime loss in the Dunn Center.

It was Tech’s second consecutive overtime game, following a 109-102 double-overtime loss at Tennessee State Monday night. It was Tech’s fifth overtime game this season.

Tech’s record slipped to 7-10 in the Ohio Valley Conference and 13-15 overall, including 1-4 in overtime games. Austin Peay, 16-12 overall, moved into a tie for third place in the league with a 10-6 conference record.

Kevin Murphy paced Tech in scoring with 21 points along with seven rebounds. Elijah Muhammad added 15 points, eight rebounds and five assists and Frank Davis scored 15. Alfred Jones had eight points and eight rebounds for the Golden Eagles, who had a 42-39 edge on the glass.

Wes Channels scored 24 points to lead APSU and Anthony Campbell added 23 points and seven rebounds. Duran Roberson scored 10 points, and John Fraley finished with seven points and 11 rebounds.

Campbell hit a 3-pointer with 24 seconds to go in regulation to knot the score at 67 and Tech missed a potential game-winner on the final shot with just three seconds remaining in regulation.

After each team scored a basket in the overtime, the Govs jumped on top 71-69 on a tip-in by Campbell. With under two minutes to play, the Golden Eagles missed a shot and APSU got a bucket by Roberson for a 73-69 lead.

Murphy made one free throw to get the difference down to 73-70, before Channels hit two charity tosses with 22 seconds left for a 75-70 lead.

Murphy scored a basket with six seconds left to make it a three-point game, but the Golden Eagles couldn’t get a turnover and the Govs added two more free throws for the final margin.

Austin Peay led 2-0 in the opening minute, but the Golden Eagles took control for the rest of the first half, leading by as many as 13 points before heading into the break with a 37-29 lead.

The Golden Eagles continued to lead throughout the second half. Austin Peay finally was able to catch Tech, tying the game at 50-50 with 10:19 to play, and again at 59-59 with 5:18 remaining.

But the home team never led until Roberson hit a jumper from the corner to give the Govs a 64-63 lead with 2:06 remaining, their first since the 2-0 advantage on the game’s opening basket.

Murphy answered with a 16-foot jumper and Jones added a putback with 55 seconds left for a 67-64 Tech lead. The Golden Eagles missed a golden opportunity after a missed APSU 3-pointer, when Muhammad was fouled. However, he missed the front of a one-and-one and Campbell hit a 3-pointer with 24.2 seconds remaining to tie things, his fifth trifecta of the game.

The Golden Eagles step outside the OVC on Saturday night with a Bracket Buster game at Appalachian State in Boone, N.C. Tipoff is at 6 p.m. CST.

Fans can follow all of the action on Teamline via the telephone or the Internet. The second portion of the broadcast will also be on WHUB am 1400, which will join the contest after the TTU women’s game at Austin Peay is completed.