Photo - ASPU Athletics
Austin Peay State University men’s basketball team saw a balanced scoring effort spearheaded by freshman Dayton Gumm in a dominant 86-61 win against Miami University, Sunday, in the Dunn Center. In his first career start, Gumm led all scorers with 23 points, while fellow Bowling Green freshman Terry Taylor chipped in with 12. Senior Averyl Ugba (13 points) made it back-to-back forays into double-digits, while juniors Zach Glotta (13) and Steve Harris (11) came up with big contributions off the bench.
An early three-point barrage jump started the offense. After a combined 3-of-28 showing from distance the previous two games, the Govs hit five threes over the course 4:05 in the first half, taking a slim 9-7 advantage and nearly doubling up Miami (27-14). That opened things up on the interior, where Harris, Gumm and others found more space to operate thanks to efficient long-range shooting. When Glotta’s jumper in the lane swished through at the buzzer, the Govs carried a 51-29 lead into halftime.
By the 6:40 mark in the second half, the lead for the Govs had swelled to nearly 40 points. Austin Peay opened the second period on a 26-11 run featuring 10 of Gumm’s 23 points and eight from Ugba, who was near-unstoppable down low (5-of-7 shooting). A late Miami run cut the deficit, but the Governors first Division I win of the Matt Figger era remained an emphatic statement.
The Governors first-half shooting set a standard Miami simply could not keep up with. Austin Peay hit 66.7 percent from the floor (20-of-30) and beyond the arc (8-of-12) over the first 20 minutes, with both percentages well into the 70s deep into the frame.
(Courtesy APSU Athletics)
