By Rob Schabert, Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Torrance Rowe made two free throws with 0.7 seconds to play, breaking a tie and sending Tennessee Tech (18-8/10-3 OVC) to a 72-70 Ohio Valley Conference victory over Jacksonville State (8-20/4-9 OVC) Saturday night in Eblen Center.
The close-shave left Tech unbeaten at home this season at 13-0 and bumped the Golden Eagles back into a tie for first place in the OVC East Division with Belmont, with the next game on the slate coming in one week on the Bruins home floor.
Rowe finished with 10 points and five assists, one of five Golden Eagles to score in double digits. Senior center Ryan Martin topped Tech with 16 points, with four rebounds and three assists. Junior Hakeem Rogers finished with 15 points and seven rebounds, while sophomore Mason Ramsey came off the bench to score 15. Senior Anthony Morse finished with 12 points.
Jacksonville State got 26 points from junior Greg Tucker, who was 11-for-11 at the free throw line. JaQuail Townser added 11 points and six rebounds, while DelFinko Bogan had 11 points.
Up by five, the Golden Eagles saw Tucker make two free throws with 1:34 to pay to pull within three. It remained that way until the final seconds, when Tucker drained his third 3-pointer with seven seconds remaining to knot the score at 70-70.
Rowe tried to launch a 3-pointer just before time expired and was fouled on the attempt, with the horn sounding. After a review of the play, officials put 0.7 seconds on the clock and sent Rowe to the line to shoot three.
He made two, and JSU's desperation attempt from nearly full court harmlessly hit the shot clock above the backboard.
Tech put together an impressive 16-4 run with deft ball-handling and nifty teamwork, recording assists on seven consecutive baskets to go up by 11 points, 62-51, with just over seven minutes to play. With the run, the Golden Eagles went from trailing by one (47-46) to leading by double digits.
A 3-pointer by Townser ended the streak, and the Gamecocks cobbled together a 9-1 run to creep back within three points with just under three to play, setting the stage for the eventual wild finish.
The Golden Eagles shot nearly 60 percent in the second half, finishing the night with a 49 percent mark from the field. JSU also picked up the pace in the second half, hitting 31 percent in the first half and 46 percent in the second.
Tech had a slim 34-32 edge in rebounds.
The next contest on the shrinking schedule for the Golden Eagles is a showdown for first place at Belmont next Saturday (Feb. 20). It's the final road contest of the regular season for Tech, which finishes with two at home in Eblen Center against Morehead State (Feb. 25) and Eastern Kentucky (Feb. 27).
