CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – SIUE never trailed after the third minute of play Thursday, earning a 66-53 road win over Austin Peay in Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball.

"I thought our guys played well," SIUE Head Coach Lennox Forrester said. "Give them a lot of credit. I thought they made some big shots and made some plays."

Jerome Jones put the Cougars up 4-3 with 17:47 to play and the Cougars never trailed again. Austin Peay, now 5-14 overall and 1-4 in OVC play, never even tied the score again.

SIUE, who improved to 6-9 overall and 2-3 in the OVC, extended its lead to nine when Jones hit a jumper to make it 23-14 with 7:28 to play before the half. The Governors then went on a 9-0 run to cut the Cougar lead to two at 23-21 with 4:19 left. SIUE outscored Austin Peay 9-4 to end the half with a seven-point advantage (32-25).

The Cougars pushed their lead to 11 several times early in the second half, but Austin Peay made a run again. SIUE led 40-29 when the Governor again ran off nine straight points to make it 40-38 Cougars with 13:17 to play. Mark Yelovich nailed two free throws with 10:13 left to cap an 8-0 SIUE run that made it 48-38 Cougars.

"What I like is in back-to-back games our guys played hard," Forrester said. We haven't had that consistency all season long. I'm glad we're having it now."

The Cougars connected on 12 of 13 free throws for the game. Michael Messer was 8-8 at the free throw line and hit six consecutive free throws late in the second half to help SIUE seal the game.

Jones led all scorers with 22 points. He was 9-18 from the field and hit a pair of three-pointers. Messer finished with 10 points and tied for team lead with eight rebounds. Kris Davis also scored 10 points.

Mark Yelovich added eight points and eight rebounds. Yelovich pushed his career totals to 1,293 points and 504 rebounds. He is the only the fourth player in school history to have more than 1,000 points and 500 rebounds.

As a team SIUE outrebounded Austin Peay 39-28. The plus-11 rebounding margin is the largest of the year for the Cougars.

"I wasn't pleased at the way we rebounded the ball in the first half but they did a better job in the second half," Forrester said.

SIUE stays on the road to play at Murray State Saturday.

"It's going to be a huge challenge for us," Forrester said. "Hopefully our guys, after winning the past two games, have some confidence and some momentum."

Tipoff in Murray, Ky. is slated for 7:30 p.m. and is the second game of a double header with the women's teams.