Clarksville, TN – The Austin Peay State University football’s Sean Durugordon scored a career-high 21 points in the Governors’ 56-55 loss to Howard, Saturday, inside the Winfield Dunn Center.
Durugordon also posted a career-high in field goal attempts (16) and tied career-highs in 3-pointers made (4) and free throws made (5). He was a perfect 5-of-5 from the free throw line. Elijah Hutchins-Everett ended with nine points. Durugordon and Hutchins-Everett each grabbed eight rebounds.
Cameron Copeland added seven points and six boards for Austin Peay (3-4), which shot 30.3 percent (20-of-66) overall and 7-of-11 from the charity stripe.
Carlos Paez dished out five assists for the Governors and moved past Nick Stapleton for seventh place on the school’s all-time list. Nate James‘ team recorded 14 assists on 20 made field goals and held edges in points off turnovers (17-9) and bench points (7-5). Austin Peay State University committed only eight turnovers while forcing 19.
The APSU Governors held the Bison scoreless for a 4:52 stretch in the first half, leading to a 16-14 advantage at the 8:20 mark. Back-to-back Durugordon treys as part of an 8-0 APSU run to close the period gave his team a 29-24 upper hand at halftime. Howard (4-5) did not score for the final 4:40 of the half.
The Governors’ spurt expanded to 12-0 after a Durugordon jumper and Jalen Ware steal and dunk put their team in front 33-24 with 18:35 to go. Austin Peay State University again led by nine twice before the 14:32 mark, but the Bison answered with a 10-1 run to tie the affair at 41 midway through the half. Three ties followed before Copeland buried a trey from the wing to put his team in front, 54-51, with 4:27 on the clock.
Howard countered with a Jelani Williams layup and Jordan Wood bucket from deep to give their team a 56-54 edge at the 1:57 mark. Carlos Paez converted the second of two free throws to trim the Governors’ deficit to one with 43.8 seconds to go. On Howard’s next possession, Ware deflected a pass which was picked up by Copeland. However, a potential game-winner for Austin Peay State University hit off the side of the backboard.
Austin Peay State University extended its streak of consecutive games with at least one trey made to 644 following a Caleb Stone-Carrawell bucket from behind the arc 1:30 into the contest.
Wood and Steve Settle III each had double-doubles. Wood ended with 16 points and 11 rebounds. He was 6-of-12 shooting overall and 4-of-7 from distance. Settle III had 17 points, going 4-of-8 from the field and 9-of-11 from the line, and 10 rebounds. Williams added 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting plus eight rebounds.
The Bison shot 46.5 percent (20-of-43) overall, 38.5 percent (5-of-13) from 3, and 73.3 percent (11-of-15) from the stripe.
About APSU Men’s Basketball
The Austin Peay State University men’s basketball team continues their five-game homestand on November 30th against Western Kentucky. Tip-off is set for 7:00pm CT.
