The first round of the 2007 O'Reilly Ohio Valley Conference Mens and Womens Basketball Tournament was played last night, and there was surprises to be had, although there were expected finishes as well. Here is a recap on the men's action. A recap on the women's action will come soon.
#1 AUSTIN PEAY 89, #8 TENNESSEE STATE 84 OT
(CLARKSVILLE, Tenn.-ConStateman Sports) In a game that should have been a breeze for the top-seeded Governors, the TSU Tigers showed some unexpected fight. The Govs led for most of the game, but the Tigers would come back to tie it four times until finally taking their first lead with a shot by Andrae Belton to make it TSU 69-67 with 55 seconds left. Fernandez Lockett would tie it all up for the Govs with 30 seconds left, and the game went to overtime.
In overtime, the Govs went on a 8-2 run early, and would eventually hold of the Tigers to advance to the semifinal round in Nashville. Dreake Reed had a total of 27 points for Austin Peay.
#2 EASTERN KENTUCKY 63, #7 MOREHEAD STATE 45
(RICHMOND, Ky.-ConStatesman Sports) The second-seeded Colonels had no trouble holding off the Eagles, as EKU had three players in double-figures. EKU went on a 16-0 run for nine minutes early, improving their position to a 25-8 lead at the time, and led 40-23 at the half. EKU now heads to the semifinals in Nashville for third time in the last four years.
#3 TENNESSEE TECH 88, #6 SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 60
(COOKEVILLE, Tenn.-ConState Sports) The Tech Golden Eagles started slow, but eventually gained momentum over the icy-shooting SEMO Redhawks on the way to 28-point rout. Belton Rivers and Anthony Fisher had 34 points between them as they led the Golden Eagles to the semifinal round in Nashville, where they will play #2 Eastern Kentucky on Friday. Tech had a total of four players in double-figures in scoring, including Rivers and Fisher.
#5 SAMFORD 70, #4 MURRAY STATE 60
(MURRAY, Ky.-ConState Sports) In the only men's upset of the night, the defending OVC Tournament champion from the 2005-06 season, the Murray Racers, got knocked off by the visiting Samford Bulldogs. Samford had four players in double-figure scoring, led by Randall Gulina and Jerry Smith with 20 points apiece, and the team as a whole was 75 percent from the floor in the final half. Smith himself was perfect from the charity line, as he went 10-for-10 there. The game was tied 26-26 at the half, and the Bulldogs then went on a 10-0 run and never gave back the lead.
The Bulldogs will now receive an even greater test when they travel to Nashville to play top-seeded Austin Peay on Friday.
The OVC race just may be wide open. Austin Peay was the clear favorite coming into the tournament, but their tough outing against TSU may prove the Govs to be vulnerable. Our Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles and the EKU Colonels are the most likely for any upset bids. However, Samford is showing itself to be a formidable contender, and has a shot at upsetting Austin Peay on Friday. Stay tuned as we keep abreast of all the action in the OVC tournament as it switches now to the Gaylord Entertainment Center in Nashvegas, Tennessee.
Thanks to the OVC for some of the information used for the game summaries.
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