The weekend storm led to a three hour in-arena weather delay at the Dunn Center, meaning that the APSU-Mu**ay State rivalry has now seen about everything.
The Govs and the Racers wrote another chapter in the rich history of their decorated rivalry on Saturday, Feb. 24 in the Battle of the Border.
Faithful fan that endured the delay caused by a piece of the Dunn Center roof falling in witnessed Mu**ay State come from a double digit deficit to top APSU 73-64 just after midnight.
“This is the first time in 25 years I have experienced this [weather delay],” Head Coach Matt Figger told letsgopeay.com.
True freshman Terry Taylor set the pace for the Govs out of the gate.
The Bowling Green, Kentucky, native was the source of the games opening six points and racked up 16 points by the end of the first half.
Taylor led the scoring charge with three first half 3-pointers while senior Averyl Ugba raked in 10 first half rebounds on senior night.
Ugba, who completes his only season on APSU’s Dave Loos Court, earned his ninth double-double behind 12 rebounds and 12 points.
The other senior on the court, Tre’ Ivory, was active early, earning six first half points.
Ivory and Taylor, both hailing from Bowling Green, Kentucky, scored the first 17 points for APSU.
The rest of the roster was scoreless until the 9:07 mark of the opening half.
The Govs held a 14-point lead at the break, and seemed to be controlling the Ohio Valley Conference leading Racers, but Mu**ay started the second section on a 11-0 tear.
The Racers, dawning their traditional blue and gold, spent the opening 10 minutes of the second half on a 30-14 run.
Mu**ay took the lead from an Anthony Smith layup at the 10:07 mark, and held on for the rest of the night.
The Racers ended a 39-12 run before the game entered the elongated delay.
“We decided we were not going to offensive rebound, we did not get back in transition,” Figger told letsgopeay.com, “You cannot beat a team trying to win the league with that kind of effort in the second half.”
The Racers totaled 50 second half points featuring three separate athletes hitting double figures.
APSU fizzled out in the second half, with Ugba and Taylor combining for 18 points of APSU’s 27 in the second half.
“I experienced so many different emotions, from being so proud of a group of guys who came out ready to play, to being so disappointed in a group of guys who just laid it down,” Figger told letsgopeay.com.
Despite the second half falters, APSU locked in the third seed of the OVC for the conference tournament in Evansville, Indiana at the Ford Center.
The Govs will tip-off at 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 1.
APSU will take on the winner of Tennessee State and Eastern Illinois.
This is the Govs first OVC Tournament appearance since conquering it in 2016 as an eight seed.
