Colonels set to take on Govs

[IE]

Recent history would signal the Colonels? matchup tonight with Austin Peay to be a close one.

The two teams were separated by just six points last season, including a 73-70 overtime win for Eastern Kentucky University on Jan. 27.

And, the Governors have played two overtime games in Ohio Valley Conference action already this season ? a 76-71 win over Southeast Missouri on Dec. 3 and a 68-65 loss to Morehead State on Saturday.

?Austin Peay has a great track record of playing in close basketball games,? EKU coach Jeff Neubauer said. ?They are very tenacious when they get behind and always find a way to come back. That allows them to play in close games.?

Tipoff between the Colonels (9-5, 2-1 OVC) and the Govs will be at 7:30 p.m. tonight in Richmond. The Lady Colonels will take on Austin Peay at 5:30 p.m. The Colonels have won 15 straight home games, the 12th-longest active streak in the country.

Although the Govs (8-7, 2-1 OVC) lost former conference MVP Drake Reed after last season, they return two very potent scorers in Wes Channels and Anthony Campbell. Channels averages 15.3 points per game and Campbell chips in 15.1 points, while John Fraley leads them in rebounding with 6.6 boards per game.

EKU has struggled at times defensively this season with its 1-3-1 zone and especially with man-to-man, but Neubauer said his team is still improving in that respect.

?We certainly were not great against Tennessee State (on Saturday) and that had a lot to do with their personnel,? he said. ?They did a good job of making tough shots. Our 1-3-1 has been better in certain games and it played a good role against TSU.?

The Colonels will be on the road for two games before returning home to face Eastern Illinois on Jan. 14.






Colonels add walk-on

The last couple of weeks have been up and down for the EKU men?s basketball team.

Around the same time that sophomore Cordero Ellis left the team, they gained another big man ? Ruud De Jong from the Netherlands.

De Jong, a walk-on who is a sophomore in academic standing, is still waiting for full clearance from the NCAA Clearinghouse and has started the process to become a full member of the team.

?We?re happy to have him as part of our program,? Neubauer said. ?He has developed relationships with several guys on our team already and we?re just happy to have him join our team.?

 

[IE]

Govs hope to correct offensive struggles




Wesley Channels can do a lot, but he can't do it all.

Quantcast

Luckily, Anthony Campbell and John Fraley stepped up and helped Austin Peay fight hard even though the Govs still fell to OVC rival Morehead State 68-65 in overtime Saturday night at Johnson Arena.

Now they need help from the rest of the Govs heading into today's OVC game against familiar Eastern Kentucky at 6:30 p.m. in McBrayer Arena to wrap up the 'Death Valley' trip.

Austin Peay (8-7, 2-1 OVC) has lost two in a row and 3-of-4 heading into tonight's game. Eastern Kentucky (9-5, 2-1 OVC) is coming off a 79-71 victory over Tennessee State at home Saturday night.

"We just made enough plays (to stay with Morehead State), and I think one thing is Anthony came alive and made a couple of shots," Govs coach Dave Loos said. "If you look at Wes' shooting percentage, he was 5-for-19, and I'm not being critical of him. We couldn't get anything going offensively and as a result he had to over-do it. And it's simply because at one point we had guys who came off the bench who were 1-for-12. We just have to get productivity off our bench."

Campbell ended up with a game-high 24 points on 7-of-13 shooting, Channels added 19 on 5-of-19 shooting and Fraley added 10 points on 5-for-8 shooting.

But no other APSU player who attempted at least one basket made more than two shots, totalling 3-for-13.

The only Govs to have made a basket by halftime were Channels (4-for-10), Campbell (2-for-4), Fraley (3-for-4) and Caleb Brown (1-for-3).

Austin Peay ended up shooting just 35.6 percent (21-of-59) for the game, including just 7-of-22 (31.8 percent) from the 3-point line.

With all that, the Govs were still able to get the game into overtime, after being down 11 in the second half.

"We have some fight in this team," Campbell said. "We really didn't play that well. For us to be competitive in the conference we have to play better than that."

Especially since Eastern Kentucky shot 56 percent (28-of-50) in the win over Tennessee State, which shot a season-best 52.6 percent (10-of-19) from 3-point range.

But when you talk about beating the Colonels, one thing that has to be addressed is dealing with their 1-3-1 zone.

"They play really well with that zone. It's their identity," Channels said. "It's going to be tough to deal with it. We're just going to have to come out and execute well."

The Govs split the series with EKU last year and have won three of the last four.

"We played a good team (Saturday night) and we'll play a good team (tonight)," Loos said. "But it's a different sort of scheme. It's a short turnaround with different preparation. The big thing now is how you respond to what happened ... and that's always been true in this league. You better forget what happened win or lose and be ready for the next one. Hopefully, we'll make a couple of shots."