CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – A 25-point, nine-assist outing by Zyree Collins and a 17-point, 11-rebound double-double by Rashaud Marshall highlighted a thrilling, 76-75 victory for Austin Peay State University's basketball team against ETSU, as the Governors remain undefeated at F&M Bank Arena.
Four of Austin Peay's (5-5) starters logged over 37 minutes in the win, with Marshall going the distance in his second-career 40-minute outing. Marshall's double-double and 10-plus rebounding night are both the first by a Gov this season.
Collins' 25 points surpass his previous career high of 19 set last month against Wyoming, with his nine dimes tying his own performance at Kent State last week.
The Governors came out of the block hot, connecting on seven of their first nine attempts from the field, with four of their baskets coming from beyond the arc. Tate McCubbin opened the game with his first three-pointer of the night on the Govs' second trip down the court. Following the triple, Collin Parker blocked an ETSU (8-3) shot in the paint and connected on a three of his own, with McCubbin side-arming a pass from the left corner to the right wing for the triple. A Buccaneers' offensive foul again gave APSU the ball, and a driving layup by Collins extended the APSU advantage to 8-0 1:48 into the game.
Less than two minutes following Collins' first score of the night, the Govs led by 11 following a layup by Marshall and Matt Enright three-pointer and, after an ETSU score and a pair of makes at the free throw line, the Govs rinsed and repeated, with Marshall and Enright connecting on a layup and triple, respectively, to make it a 12-point game.
Following its blistering start, APSU's offense cooled over the next six minutes, with the Govs going 1-for-11 from the floor; however, the defense surrendered just seven points during that span, with APSU still holding an eight-point lead entering the uner-12 media. ETSU cut its deficit to as few as five points over the next four minutes, but seven-straight points by Collins and later a triple by Parker helped the lead reach 12 again at 33-21 with 4:13 to play in the opening period.
After ETSU again cut its deficit to just two scores following its third triple of the half, Marshall and Collins combined to score all 10 of APSU's final points of the half, as the Govs took a 43-34 lead into the halftime break.
Collins led all scorers with 13 points in addition to seven assists in the first 20 minutes, while Marshall followed him with 12 points and a game-high six boards. APSU shot 15-for-34 (44.1%) from the field in the opening half, while also connecting on seven three-pointers.
APSU's first four points of the opening four minutes of the second period came via Collins' free throws, as ETSU made it a three-point game 2:15 in after starting 4-for-7 from the field. An Enright three-pointer and layup were followed by an 8-3 ETSU run, and the Buccaneers made it just a one-point contest following a three-pointer midway through the half.
Keeping the core of Collins, Marshall, Parker, Enright, and McCubbin on the court for most of the period, the Govs fended off ETSU comeback bids, with Collins and Enright scoring splitting 12 APSU points between the second half's 10-minute mark until 4:28 when Marshall again went perfect from the line. A layup by Parker extended the Govs lead to 74-68 with 3:49 to play, but ETSU scored seven-straight points and led – for the first time on the night – with 97 seconds to play.
The Buccaneers led for just 19 seconds, as Collins drew a foul and connected on both of his one-and-one opportunities.
After three-straight misses from the field, ETSU had the ball with 5.2 seconds remaining. The Buccaneers called a full timeout, followed by a 30-second timeout, and then APSU head coach Corey Gipson called his full timeout. Can't take them with you, so may as well.
ETSU inbounded the ball from in front of their own bench. Allen Storthers tossed a moon ball over Creighton Morisch – checking in for the first time to guard the inbound – to Blake Barkley just a foot away from the right block. The 6-8 Barkely caught the ball and backed down his opposition – a six-foot Zyree Collins – jumps to the center of the paint where he is met by the likes of one Rashaud Marshall behind him, Marshall throws up a right hand from behind while Barkley fires his best Kareem-like sky hook, but the ball bounces off back rim, falls into the hands of Collins, who air mails the ball down court to burn the remaining 0.5 seconds off the clock.
Game, set, match. Govs on top by one.
The Difference
Zyree Collins. Zyree's 25 points and nine assists led all players. He went 4-for-5 from the floor and from the line in the opening period, only to connect on three baskets and six-of-seven second-half free throws, including the go-ahead points with 1:18 to play. Five of Collins' nine assists also translated into three-pointers, as his assists combined to account for 23 points.
Box Score Bullets
- Austin Peay improved to 5-5 on the season, 31-41 all-time against ETSU, and 22-14 against the Buccaneers in Clarksville.
- With the victory, APSU improved to 3-0 at F&M Bank Arena this season. It is the first time the Govs have started 3-0 at home since going 14-0 in the Winfield Dunn Center during the 2019-20 season.
- The Governors' three-straight home wins is tied for the third-longest home winning streak in the facility's brief, three-year facility.
- Head coach Corey Gipson earned his 60th-career victory and 38th at the helm of his alma mater.
- Zyree Collins led APSU in scoring for the second time this season, while Rashaud Marshall paced the Govs on the boards for the fourth time.
- Collins' 25 points are the third-most by a Gov this season, while his nine assists are tied for the most, matching his own nine-assist game at Kent State, Dec. 3.
- Rashaud Marshall's double-double is the first by a Gov since Tate McCubbin had 13 points and 10 rebounds at West Georgia last season (2/25/25).
- Marshall's five offensive rebounds are the second-most by a Gov this season and trail only his six offensive boards at Ole Miss, Nov. 18.
- Matt Enright earned his first start as a Governor.
- Enright scored a season-high 17 points to finish tied for second on the team in scoring.
- The starting lineup of Tate McCubbin, Zyree Collins, Matt Enright, Rashaud Marshall, and Collin Parker improved to 1-0 on the season.
- With McCubbin's three-pointer 37 seconds into the game, APSU extended its streak of consecutive games with a triple to 744, a streak that began Feb. 23, 2002.
- The Govs forced 12 ETSU turnovers, and now have forced all 10 opponents this season to at least 11.
Up Next
Austin Peay heads north for its final road game of the nonconference season. The Govs and Roos tipoff for a 5 p.m., Dec. 21 game at the Swinney Center in Kansas City, Missouri.
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Postgame Quotes
Austin Peay Head Coach Corey Gipson
Opening Statement… "I am grateful for this group of young men that we are privileged to coach. I am thankful for their maturity. I am thankful for the staff that we have and the familes that we have who sacrifice for us to be able to put in the time that we put in. You take these three young men right here [Anton Brookshire, Zyree Collins, Rashaud Marshall]. They are all fortunate enough to be up here, but the whole team really deserves to be up here today with the way they all prepared going into this game… These guys grew a lot in [our recent road games]. It is not always about the score of the game, it is about if you can come together as a family through the adversity. You grow through what you go through. These guys really came together and we are fortunate to be able to display it at home in front of our home crowd. It was a record crowd for us this year and we are so grateful for that. I know these guys really appreciated that. I also want to make Anton Brookshire who met with me before this game and was willing to sacrifice start for us to be able to get out to a different start to this game… not everyone would be willing to make that sacrifice. And the way that Zyree played today, any of these guys would tell you that I was on his neck all week and I was pouring it on him, but he took it like a champ. I am thankful for him being callused in a positive way and having thick enough skin to take what we pour on him because every young man could not handle that. They would have thought that myself or the staff were picking on him, but he knew that we were just challenging him to be the best version of himself, but he had great teammates that were picking him up.. Big Rashaud Marshall is such an enforcer. We had a moment of truth the other day and one our guys said when they are around Rashaud, they feel like he is their body guard. For him to say that, it means that his energy and presence empower him."
Austin Peay Redshirt Senior Anton Brookshire
On his Role Tonight… "The stats tonight speak for themselves. Matt [Enright] did a great job tonight along with some of our other guys. My mindset is always to win. Whatever we have to do to get the outcomes of games, that is always number one. Like coach said, he and I spoke and that was the decision we came to. I don't have a different mindset about it. I am happy for these guys. They played their butts off and we got the 'w'.
Austin Peay Freshman Zyree Collins
On His Performance… "My teammates believed in me. They know I can find them when they are open. We just play a team game. They know I am good at making reads, we all are good at that and clicking the ball. It just came as the game went on."
Austin Peay Forward Rashaud Marshall
On the Impact of the Fans… "The fans showed great energy the whole game. From when the first three went down. Coach always says he wants everyone to stand up until the first bucket. Everyone was standing. When the first three went down by Tate McCubbin, it felt like everything shook from the floor. That is what really picked us up and picked the whole bench up."