CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Trailing by four midway through the second half, the Austin Peay men's basketball team was unable to make a late surge in a 66-55 loss to Morehead State on Saturday afternoon inside the Winfield Dunn Center.

The Govs were led by the talented freshman duo of Elijah Hutchins-Everett and Caleb Stone-Carrawell who each scored in double figures. Hutchins-Everett led Austin Peay with 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field with seven rebounds. The Orange, N.J., native was also 5-of-6 from the free-throw line in 26 minutes. It's the eighth game this season Hutchins-Everett has scored in double figures.

Behind Hutchins-Everett was Caleb Stone-Carrawell with 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the floor with four rebounds, two assists, and one block. Stone-Carrawell notched his 10th double-digit scoring performance of the season in 31 minutes and went 3-of-5 from the free-throw line.

Redshirt senior Tariq Silver poured in six points on 3-of-9 shooting from the field with three rebounds, one assist, and one steal. Fellow redshirt senior Corbin Merritt scored six points off the bench with four of his six points coming from the free-throw line.

In his first start of the season, senior Elton Walker registered five points and five rebounds in 23 minutes. Walker was 1-of-3 from the field and a perfect 3-for-3 from the charity stripe. Off the bench, freshman Drew Calderon scored five points on 2-of-6 shooting with one three-pointer.

As a team, the Govs shot 35.2 percent from the field while going just 1-of-16 from behind the three-point line and shooting 72.7 percent from the free-throw line. Morehead State outrebounded Austin Peay, 40-36 while both teams recorded nine offensive rebounds. For the seventh straight game, APSU forced an opponent to record double-digit turnovers (11), scoring 10 points off of Morehead State mistakes.

Once again it was a slow start for the Govs in the first half as Morehead State used a pair of runs to gain an 11-2 lead just five minutes into the game. After getting blitzed early, the Govs found their rhythm and held Morehead State scoreless for over three minutes to trim its deficit down to nine with 12:45 remaining. APSU clawed its way back thanks to a 15-foot jumper from Stone-Carrawell followed by a deep three-pointer from Drew Calderon.

An and-one lay-up from senior Corbin Merritt at the 10:45 mark of the first half cut the Govs deficit down to six before Morehead State embarked on a quick 6-0 run to propel its lead. Ultimately Morehead State went on a 14-6 run to earn a 34-20 advantage with three minutes remaining in the first half.  

Down the stretch, neither offense was able to string together consistent play as APSU and Morehead State each went 2-of-10 from the field during the final two minutes. A Cameron Copeland lay-up as time expired shrunk the Eagles lead down to single digits as APSU trailed 38-29 heading into the locker room.

The two teams traded baskets to begin the second half as Hutchins-Everett scored three of the first five points for the Govs to cut the deficit down to six with 18:19 left. A spinning post move from Hutchins-Everett three minutes later brought Austin Peay to within four, their closest margin since early in the first half.

That was the closest the Govs got in the second half as APSU went scoreless from the field for nearly seven minutes as Morehead State widened its lead to 56-44 with 5:40 remaining. Out of a media timeout, the Govs offense came to live, embarking on a quick 8-2 run to trail 58-52 late in the second half. Stone-Carrawell scored four of the Govs eight points during the two-minute run.

Austin Peay made five of its final seven field goals but was unable to make a dent in the Morehead State lead as the Eagles made its final three field goals. The Govs cut their deficit down to seven with under a minute remaining but were unable to mount a comeback in a 66-55 loss.

UP NEXT
The Govs are on the road for three of their next four contests beginning on Thursday, Jan. 13 at Belmont. After returning home for a match-up against Eastern Illinois on Saturday, Jan. 15, the Govs travel to UT Martin (Jan. 20) and Tennessee State (Jan. 22).

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