By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Field goal percentage. That was the name of the game Monday evening as the Tennessee Tech men's basketball team (1-1) found itself on the sour end of an 80-70 outcome against the Air Force Falcons (1-1).
Coming off one of the better shooting performances in the last five years, the Golden Eagles struggled to find the bottom of the net on the same night it seemed the home team just couldn't miss. The Falcons connected on an impressive 59.2 percent from the field on the night, doing more than half of their damage in the paint with 42 points around the bucket.
Tech managed a 32.3 percent shooting effort, struggling to find its rhythm for much of the contest. With the Falcons bottling up the paint for a majority of the night, the Golden Eagles were forced to try and match their 3-point shooting effort from the season-opener when they hit 14 treys. Air Force held Tech to just 24 percent from outside the arc, contributing to the tough nigh from the field.
Despite the 27 percent difference in shooting, the Golden Eagles scratched and clawed back from a 13-point, 40-27, halftime deficit to take a one-point advantage with seven minutes left in the action.
Tech spent much of the early portion of the second half taking advantage of several mistakes and misses by Air Force, highlighted by a lightning quick start to the period. TTU forced four Falcon turnovers over the first four minutes, including on three straight possessions right before the first media timeout. Over that span, senior Anthony Morse led his squad on an 11-4 run, putting an exclamation point on a three-rebound (two offensive), four-point effort with a monster slam on one of three fast-break scores.
The Golden Eagle also used a subzero spell from the charity stripe by the Falcons over a seven-minute stretch to take its first lead of the second half, 57-56. Torrance Rowe, another senior who managed 15 points, provided the go-ahead bucket, laying in the ball on a nice drive to the cup.
Air Force's Hayden Graham, who also put up 18 points, answered with a dagger, giving the Falcons the lead back for good on a clutch 3-pointer on the next possession.
For the second straight contest, Morse set a new career-high in scoring, dropping 14 points as part of his first career double-double. The big man connected on 6-of-9 field goal attempts and hauled in 11 rebounds, including a staggering eight on the offensive glass.
Rowe led the squad with 18 points and also dished out a team-best four assists. Junior college transfer Hakeem Rogers managed 13 points, hitting three buckets from beyond the arc and four from the charity stripe.
Game two of the Air Force Classic awaits the Tech squad on Wednesday with an 8 p.m. CST showdown at New Mexico State. Fans can follow the action live via webstream on ESPN3 or on the radio with Dylan Vazzano on the call on 106.1 The Eagle.
Photo by Jim Dillon
