By ANTHONY SHINGLER
Assistant Sports Editor

Heading into Saturday, Feb. 27, the objective was simple for the APSU Govs — win and host a first-round Ohio Valley Conference game against Tennessee Tech. With an overtime period, the comeback Govs were able to accomplish the feat by knocking off Southeast Missouri, 71-68.

The win improves the Govs to 17-14 overall and 11-7 in the conference. The win allowed the hardwood Govs to clinch the No. 3 seed in the OVC tournament.

With SEMO leading 31-24, the Govs looked as if they were out for the count only connecting on 7-of-22 field goals in the first half.

Coming into the second half, SEMO jumped out to a 44-33 lead with 13:47 left, after senior center Israel Kirk got a tip-in to fall through the net.

After trailing for much of the second half, the Govs would respond with a 14-5 run to cut the SEMO lead to 49-47, after a jumper from senior guard Wesley Channels with 7:19 remaining.

Again, SEMO found ways to get close to playing spoiler, leading by as many as six, 55-49 with 4:37 remaining.

With the Govs clawing back, they would tie it at 57 points on a pair of free throws from junior guard Caleb Brown with 2:31 left. Then the Govs would take their first lead on another Channels bucket with 1:10 to go.

SEMO would tie it up again on a junior forward Cameron Butler bucket, 59-59 with nine seconds left. The Govs had a chance to steal the game away but Channels’ jumper did not fall at the buzzer.

The Govs used a 10-4 run to close out the half to force the extra period.

SEMO would take their largest lead, 68-66 with 38 seconds remaining, but failed to score another point the rest of the way. Channels scored five of the 11 points in the extra period.

The Govs were led by Channels’ 21 points in his final regular season game and sophomore forward Anthony Campbell added 13 points. Freshman guard Justin Blake, who found his way back into the starting lineup, had 10 and sophomore center John Fraley added a double-double effort with 10 points and 12 rebounds in the win.

SEMO (7-23, 3-15 OVC) were led by Butler’s 18 points off the bench and freshman guard Marland Smith also scored 18.

“It was a heck of a game and had to be enjoyable for the fans to watch,” said head coach Dave Loos, in a video interview with The Leaf Chronicle.

“I was real proud of our defense,” said Loos. “Our zone was pretty good in the first half and our man-to-man, which had been lacking, was very good in the second half, too, and we needed every bit of it to get out of here with a win.”

Channels showed how important he was to the Govs offense this season in his final game. This season, he is represented in every statistical category in the OVC. As of the last regular season game, he has scored more points (527) than any other OVC player.

If the Govs win on Tuesday, March 2, they will play the winner of No. 2 Morehead State, No. 7 Jacksonville State 8 p.m., Friday, March 5, at the Bridgestone Arena, aired live on ESPNU in Nashville.

The OVC championship game starts at 7 p.m., Saturday, March 6, and is aired live on ESPN 2.