Tigers Survive Scare Against Governors in OT, 70-68

Dec. 16, 2010

Box Score |  Quotes |  Notes |  Photo Gallery 

Box Score in PDF Format

By: Preston McClellan

MEMPHIS – Despite trailing by as many as 15 points in the second half to Austin Peay, Memphis (8-1) fought back to force overtime and eventually escaped with a 70-68 victory over the Governors Thursday night at FedExForum.

The Tigers committed 14 first-half turnovers and shot just 34.8 percent in the opening period, but still enjoyed a 24-19 cushion heading to the break.

Four straight turnovers to start the second half quickly turned into a 16-0 Governor run that put Memphis on its heels.

Scoring 21 straight over seven minutes that spanned the halves, Austin Peay found itself in front 35-24 just three minutes into the second half.

Enter Charles Carmouche.

Sparked by a four-point play at the16:45 mark, Carmouche single-handedly willed the Tigers back into the game by scoring or assisting on Memphis’ first 20 points of the second half. The Tigers finally came back to tie things up after a corner triple from Crawford that capped a 19-4 Memphis run and knotted the game at 47 with 8:35 to play.

Carmouche finished with 16 points, 15 coming after halftime, to go along with a career-high seven rebounds.

Memphis again found itself trailing in the closing minutes, however. Down 56-53 with 27 seconds left, Will Barton drew a foul and headed to the line. Barton made the first and missed the second, but a fortuitous bounce allowed Memphis to get the ball back trailing 56-54.

The other Barton brother responded this time, as Antonio took the ball on the right wing and took two dribbles before lofting a 12-foot floater up and in to tie the game at 56 and force overtime.

Clutch three-point shooting by Memphis in the extra period proved to be enough to lift the Tigers past the Governors. Chris Crawford nailed two trifectas and assisted on another by W. Barton as the Tigers jumped out to a 68-62 advantage with just under a minute to play.

Austin Peay refused to lay down, however, as triples from Melvin Baker and Justin Blake brought the Governors back within 69-68 with 13 seconds to play. After W. Barton made 1-of-2 from the charity stripe to extend the advantage to 70-68, the Tigers locked down on defense and forced a missed three-point attempt from Blake to seal the game.

Tyshwan Edmondson finished with a game-high 22 points on 9-of-25 shooting to lead the Governors, who scored 25 points off of 24 Memphis turnovers. Melvin Baker was the only other player to finish in double figures for Austin Peay , notching a double-double of 17 points and 11 rebounds. The Governors worked Memphis on the glass, outrebounding the Tigers 51-41 and scoring 19 second-chance points compared to just five for Memphis.

Crawford finished with 18 points on a career-high five three-pointers and four assists to lead Memphis. Will and Antonio Barton finished with nine points apiece in the contest.

Memphis improves to 2-0 this season in overtime games and avenges a 2002 overtime loss to Austin Peay in which the Governors out-lasted the Tigers 81-80 at the Pyramid Arena. Memphis improved to 16-4 all-time against Austin Peay, including five in a row.

Memphis has the weekend to rest before The Tigers take on Texas A&M Corpus Christi Monday, Dec. 20, at FedExForum with gamete slated for 7 p.m.