PEORIA, Ill.—Austin Peay State University could not overcome 17 turnovers as it fell to host Bradley, 81-74, in first-round action of the inaugural CollegeInsider.com Post-Season Tournament.

The loss ends the Governors season at 19-14 while Bradley improves to 17-14.

The Governors 17 turnovers led to 19 Bradley points. It was the most APSU turnovers since they committed 20 against UT Martin, Feb. 5. The Governors, in fact, had committed just 51 turnovers over the previous six games, only nine in the double-overtime loss to Morehead State in the Ohio Valley Conference tournament championship game.

The Governors recorded nine more field goals (32 to 23) than Bradley but could not keep the Braves off the line (24 of 38) or control their three-point attack (11 of 20).

The Governors fell behind 23-13 before going on a 9-0 run to make it a one-point game. APSU, in fact, took the lead 27-26 on an Ernest Fields layup with 6:54 left in the half and led again at 29-28 on a Drake Reed layup. However, the Govs would go into halftime down 40-36 after being unable to control the basketball—committing nine turnovers.

The Govs would open the second half with Kyle Duncan knocking down a three pointer but could never take the lead. The Governors trailed by just six nearly seven minutes into the half but four turnovers in the first four minutes kept the Govs from gaining any momentum.

Bradley finally pushed the lead to 10, 57-47, midway through the second half and with seven minutes left in the game the Governors had tallied just 13 points in 13 minutes.

The Governors, led by Reed, charged back late in the second half. Reed scored 18 of his game-high 24 points in the second half. However, it was a steal by Caleb Brown and a bucket by Wes Channels that made it a three-point game, 67-64, with 2:43 left.

However, Sam Maniscalco nailed a three-pointer with 2:27 left to all but dash APSU’s hopes.

Reed finished his career with his 18th double-double, grabbing 11 rebounds to go with his 24 points. Duncan, Anthony Campbell and Channels all finished with 11 points. Freshman point guard Tyrone Caldwell recorded seven assists.

Theron Wilson led Bradley with 18 points while Maniscalco added 15.

The contest was the last for APSU seniors Reed and Duncan. Reed finished just nine points short of 2,000 for his career.

-AP-