By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – The Tennessee Tech men's basketball team overcame a slow start offensively Saturday afternoon, putting forth a strong, second-half effort to open Ohio Valley Conference play with a 72-66 victory at SIUE.
The Golden Eagles kept themselves in the action early, despite shooting under 20 percent from the field over the opening eight minutes, by forcing turnovers. Tech caused the Cougars to make five in just a four-minute span between the first and second media timeouts, keeping the Golden Eagles alive while looking for their shot.
They found it. Tech scored 25 minutes over the final 12 minutes of play, taking a 32-30 edge into the locker room.
After SIUE tied things up at 34 just two minutes into the second half, the Golden Eagle offense took off and never looked back, edging out its advantage, little-by-little for the remainder of the game. Tech closed the game shooting 59.1 percent in the second half, and increase of 24 percent over the first 20 minutes.
"This game was like so many of our other games this year," head coach Steve Payne said. "This time, however, when we got to that point where you have an opportunity to hang your head or pout, we regrouped, executed and got the shots we wanted and made the shots we wanted."
The Cougars made some small runs and threatened to take back over a couple of times, but Tech managed to answer each time. SIUE's Jalen Henry made a pivotal three-point play with 5:35 to play in the contest to cut the lead to a single point.
Tech senior Kajon Mack had an answer, draining his third triple of the half just five seconds later. He had one more rebuttle for a Cougar rally attempt with a minute and 45 seconds left in the game as well.
After Carlos Anderson sunk a couple of free throws to cut the TTU advantage to four, Mack once again ripped one from downtown, sinking his fourth trey of the game for a seven-point lead. It would mark the closest SIUE would get until sinking a last-second jump shot for the six-point loss.
"We had a little stretch where we didn't execute against their zone, and that's on me," Payne explained. "Once we corrected that it was over and we were good. I thought our guys did a lot of good things tonight. They took care of the basketball and were able to finish off the game the right way."
Mack was a beast for the Golden Eagles, leading all scorers on the day with a career-high 22 points and tying for the team-lead with seven rebounds. The guard finished 6-for-11 from the field, including a 4-for-6 showing from deep and 6-for-6 effort from the charity stripe.
"He just played with confidence, especially late in the game," Payne said of Mack's performance. "He shot the ball with confidence. He drove it with confidence. He passed it with confidence."
Juniors Aleksa Jugovic and Mason Ramsey also offered double-digit scoring efforts. Ramsey posted 12 points and seven boards, as well as a team-high three assists, all while playing a career-high 34 minutes. Jugovic notched 15 points while shooting 50 percent from the field.
"All I've been telling them all week is 'you've earned this already, now you have to go take it,'" Payne said. "They had a great week of practice, they're wonderful kids and they deserved to win. It'll be a happy bus ride home."
The Golden Eagles will return home to Cookeville and the Hooper Eblen Center Thursday evening, playing host to in-state and OVC rival Austin Peay at 7:30 p.m. CT.
Photo by Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
