CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Austin Peay held the Northern Illinois University men's basketball team to just 28.6 percent (8-of-28) shooting in the second half as the Governors claimed a 77-59 victory over the Huskies on Tuesday night (Nov. 25) at F&M Bank Arena. 

Gianni Cobb (Chicago, Ill./Homewood-Flossmoor) led the way for NIU with 12 points while Makhai Valentine (Munhall, Pa./Steel Valley) added 10. 

Austin Peay (4-3) shot 10-of-23 (43.5 percent) from beyond the arc in the contest while holding NIU to just 2-of-22 (9.1 percent). 

"Ugly performance by us," said NIU head coach Rashon Burno. "We didn't do anything that we had practice or talked about, on both sides of the ball. We shot a dreadful percentage from three and left 10 points at the free-throw line. We just didn't play well, (Austin Peay) was more physical around the basket. We have to lick our wounds, watch the film and get back to the drawing board."

The hosts scored the opening seven points of the contest before Valentine knocked in a triple and converted the four-point play to get the Huskies started offensively. 

Trailing by six, 12-6, NIU used a 7-1 run to pull even at 13 with 12:26 to play in the opening half. Cobb scored the first three of the burst for the Huskies before Daemar Kelly (Pittsburgh, Pa./Penn Hills) and Jao Ituka (Gaithersburg, Md./Gaithersburg) finished at the rim to bring NIU back tied. 

Back-to-back triples gave the Governors a 26-22 lead with a little over eight minutes to play in the half before Gustav Winther (Roskilde, Denmark) had a put-back dunk to cut the Austin Peay lead to just two. Winther's put-back ignited an 8-0 NIU run as Dylan Ducommun (Geneva, Switzerland) scored the next four and Winther added a hook to put the Huskies in front, 30-26. 

Austin Peay ended the NIU run at eight with a basket to cut the Huskie advantage to a pair with five minutes to play in the half. 

The Governors used a 13-4 run to take a 41-36 lead in the final minute of the opening half, but Winther scored just before the buzzer to trim the Austin Peay advantage to just three, 41-38, at the break. 

Cobb led NIU with 12 first half points, Collin Parker had 14 to pace the Governors. Austin Peay shot 63 percent (17-of-27) from the field in the opening 20 minutes, including 46.2 percent (6-of-13) from three, while NIU shot 53.1 percent (17-of-32) from the floor, but just 22.2 percent (2-of-9) from long range. 

NIU (3-4) scored the first four to start the second half to go in front by one, but Austin Peay netted the next seven as the Governors took a 48-42 lead. Valentine ended the Austin Peay run with a layup with 15:52 to play, bringing NIU back within four. 

The lead for Austin Peay was still four, 52-48, when back-to-back triples for the Governors pushed their lead to 58-48 with 11:15 left. 

Austin Peay's run grew to 17-0 as the Governors took a 69-48 lead with a little under five minutes to play. Austin Peay held NIU scoreless for over eight minutes during the run. Austin Peay outscored NIU, 36-21, in the second half. 

Parker finished with 30 points and eight rebounds for the Governors. Tate McCubbin added 13 points and Rashaud Marshall chipped in 12 points and nine rebounds for the hosts who finished the contest 27-of-51 (52.9 percent) from the field. 

After three consecutive road games, NIU will return home on Saturday, Nov. 29, when they host Bellarmine at 2 p.m. Tickets are available now at NIUHuskies.com/tickets.