By Mike Lehman, Sports Information Coordinator
HAMMOND, La. – It was a tale of two halves Wednesday night as the Tennessee Tech men's basketball team couldn't overcome a hot-shooting Southeastern Louisiana squad on the road, falling to the Lions in Hammond, La., 86-68.
The Golden Eagles dominated the first half offensively, scoring a season-high 48 points on 62.5 percent shooting from the field, and walking into the dressing room with a 14-point lead. The Tech defense held the Lions to just 36 percent from the floor over the first 20 minutes.
Maybe it was basket, but in the second half, the teams practically switched identities. Southeastern caught fire early in the second stanza and never looked back, shooting 64.5 percent from the floor and 46.7 percent from downtown. On the flip side, the Golden Eagle struggled to find the bottom of the net, shooting 20 percent in the second half.
Leading the second-half surge by the Lions was guard Josh Filmore, who finished the night with a game-high 27 points while hitting on seven of his 12 3-point attempts. Zay Jackson tallied 25 points and DeVonte Upson finished the contest with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Tech big man Charles Jackson recorded a career-high 17 points in the affair, shooting 80 percent from the floor and pulling down 11 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the year. He is now the first Golden Eagles to record a double-double in his first five career games, let alone the first five games of a season, in over 30 years. Damien Kinloch recorded four double-doubles in his first four career games back in 2001-02.
Torrance Rowe tallied double-figures for the third consecutive game, scoring 13 points in 32 minutes of action. He was followed by Josiah Moore who dropped 12 points in the contest while also dishing out three assists and pulling in three rebounds.
The Golden Eagles will get back to action on Sunday as they take on the Tulane Green Wave in New Orleans. Tip is scheduled for a 1 p.m. CT start and the action can be heard on 106.1 The Eagle with Roger Ealey on the call.
Photo by Rich Schmitt