By Rob Schabert, Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee Tech had one of its most impressive outings of the season Sunday afternoon, closing out play in the 2015 Air Force Classic with a convincing 101-64 victory over Mississippi Valley State.
The Golden Eagles (5-2) have won all five of their home games this season and 13 straight in Eblen Center against non-conference visitors. Tech goes for its sixth straight home court triumph on Wednesday night and 14th in a row when East Tennessee State comes to town for a 6 p.m. game.
Seniors Torrance Rowe and Ryan Martin paced Tech. Rowe finished with 19 points and six assists, while Martin had 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting and grabbed nine rebounds. Sophomore Aleksa Jugovic also scored in double digits with 10 and dished off six assists.
Courtney Alexander (pictured), a 6-foot-7 true freshman forward from Mableton, Ga., had notable numbers, recording his first career double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Another true freshman with a strong showing was Tre Hansbrough with nine points and eight assists.
For the second consecutive game, Tech managed 25 assists, and all 12 Golden Eagles who saw action put points on the scoreboard and grabbed rebounds. One night after the bench produced 58 points, the Tech bench scored 48 on Sunday.
Mississippi Valley (0-7) was led by Marcus Romain with 20 points along with four assists, while Vacha Vaughn produced a double-double with 14 points on 6-for-8 shooting and 10 rebounds.
Tech did an outstanding job of sharing the ball in the opening eight minutes, building a lead of seven points with five assists on the first six baskets. The advantage puffed to double figures at 25-12 following a 3-pointer by Mason Ramsey and a three-point play from Ryan Martin.
From there, the Golden Eagles kicked things into a higher gear, running and gunning the lead to as many as 21 points by scoring in transition and with the fast break. When Mississippi Valley called timeout with 6:17 to play in the half, the Golden Eagle lead had sprouted to 39-18. Tech was 7-for-10 during a 24-6 run over a span of six minutes.
Perhaps as impressive as their offensive firepower, the Golden Eagles took care of the ball. Five minutes into the second half, Tech had only three turnovers and owned a 15-2 edge in points scored off turnovers.
The largest margin in the first half was 27 points when Tech went up 48-21 with 1:18 to play on a jumper by Rowe.
Tech's lead reached 30 points in the second half with 7:46 to play and never went under that mark, with the 37-point difference accounting for the game's largest margin.
Tech shot 61.1 percent in the second half, finishing the game at 52.1 percent from the field (37-for-71). The Golden Eagles were 10-for-26 from long distance and hit 17-for-19 at the free throw line. Tech also had a 47-35 rebounds advantage.
The Delta Devils shot 32.8 percent (22-fofr-67) for the game.
