Austin Peay shoves its way around Southeast

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. -- Austin Peay, owning up to its offensive limitations, tries to turn every basketball game into a defensive slugfest -- a street fight, if you will.

Saturday afternoon, the Governors bludgeoned visiting Southeast Missouri State University for virtually the entire 40 minutes on their way to a 62-49 Ohio Valley Conference victory.

A season-high crowd of 4,432 at the Dunn Center -- including more than 3,000 military personnel admitted free from nearby Fort Campbell -- saw the Govs improve to 10-6 overall and 3-2 in the OVC. Austin Peay is 7-0 at home this season.

The Indians fell to 7-11 and 2-4 as they lost to Austin Peay for the sixth straight time.

"We have to play this way, because we have some trouble scoring," Austin Peay coach Dave Loos said. "It's not always pretty for us, but it's been effective."

You'll get no arguments from the Indians after they shot just 29.8 percent from the field (17 of 57) and scored a season-low point total despite turning the ball over only nine times against relentless pressure. Southeast entering the game shooting 49.3 percent this season.

"I was impressed with Austin Peay's defense. I think they're the best defensive team we've played against, and that includes Creighton," Southeast coach Gary Garner said. "We struggled offensively, and I knew it would be this kind of game. I thought we'd struggle to score against them, and I thought they would struggle to score against us.

"It wound up 13 points, but it was really a two- or three-possession game. If we knock down a couple of shots, we're right there."

Austin Peay shot 55 percent from the floor (22 of 40) despite averaging just 44.4 percent this season.

"I can think of times when we didn't total 55 percent in two games," Loos said. "Our defense has been there all year, because we struggle a lot offensively."

The Govs shot a high percentage largely because of the stellar inside play of center Josh Lewis, an athletic and active 6-foot-8, 210-pound junior who ranks as one of the OVC's most improved players.

Lewis hit nine of 10 shots -- making him 16 of 17 in the past two games -- on his way to 23 points. He also pulled down nine rebounds as the Govs dominated the boards 40-26 and added six blocked shots, many of them erasing what looked like easy baskets.

"I didn't realize Lewis was that good a shot blocker," Garner said. "That was really the biggest difference in the game. We got to the basket several times, and he blocked our shots."

Lewis, who got virtually all of his baskets from in close and had several dunks, scored 17 second-half points, including all 10 of the Govs' points during a late run that broke open a tight game.

"I just waited and waited and did what I needed to do," Lewis said. "I really wanted to do the same thing in the first half, but they were playing good defense."

Added Lewis, who has 45 blocks this year to lead the OVC, "That's how I got to college, blocking shots."

Lewis was not much of an offensive force during his first two seasons with the Govs, but has improved that aspect of his game enough to average more than 12 points this year as Austin Peay's second-leading scorer.

"He's really improved. He's developed a low-post game," Loos said. "With the blocked shots he's got great timing, and is able to do it without getting in a lot of foul trouble."

Sophomore guard Anthony Davis, one of the OVC's premier freshman last year, added 20 points for the Govs. He hit seven of 12 shots.

Senior forward Tim Scheer led the Indians with 15 points. He hit six of 14 shots, including three of six 3-pointers, although the Indians were just six of 18 from beyond the arc as a team.

"We knew they play-in your-face defense and try to get after you," Scheer said. "They did that, and we struggled to get shots. We didn't get many open looks.

"But I thought we also played pretty good defense today. It improved a lot from the last few games."

Junior center Brandon Griffin added nine points and 10 rebounds, although he hit just three of 11 shots. Leading scorer Derek Winans struggled with his shooting as the sophomore guard was two of nine and had eight points. Junior forward Damarcus Hence added eight points and hit two of three 3-pointers.

Sophomore point guard Kevin Roberts had another strong performance running the team, recording six assists with no turnovers. Roberts, the OVC leader in assist-to-turnover ratio, has 28 assists and one turnover in his last three games.

Southeast fell behind 7-0 in the opening moments and had to play catch-up most of the day, although the Indians stayed close until late.

The Indians had just one first-half lead, at 14-12, and trailed 25-23 at the intermission.

Southeast grabbed two leads early in the second half, at 28-26 on a Scheer 3-pointer and at 31-28 on a Brett Hale 3-pointer.

Austin Peay scored the next nine points to go ahead 37-31 and Southeast never led again, although the outcome was in doubt until the final minutes.

The Indians pulled into a 40-40 tie on a Hence 3-pointer with 10:50 remaining, but reserve guard Levi Carmichael put the Govs ahead to stay as his jumper made it 42-40 at the 10:20 mark. It was Carmichael's only basket of the game.

Southeast trailed 44-42 when the Govs basically sealed the victory with a 10-2 run -- Lewis had all 10 points -- that spanned nearly seven minutes and opened up a 54-44 lead with less than three minutes remaining.

"Lewis is really a good athlete," Scheer said. "He was a load to handle. He played well."

Added Garner, "I was really proud of us for not turning it over against that kind of defense. We just didn't quite have enough offense to put us over the top, but their defense was the main reason for that."

mmishow@semissourian.com

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