By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
CHARLESTON, Ill. – A late comeback bid was spoiled late for the Tennessee Tech men's basketball team Saturday evening, as the Golden Eagles (1-10, 1-3) fell on the road to Eastern Illinois (4-5, 1-1) by a final score of 87-81.
Tech's 3-point shooting kept the team in the game on a night where Eastern Illinois simply couldn't miss shots. EIU finished 58.2 percent from the field and 50 percent from 3-point range in the contest, increasing its halftime advantage from seven to 15 points early in the second half.
The Golden Eagles scratched and clawed their back into the game, trimming the deficit to just two points with 7:53 to go. Tech never could get over the hump down the stretch, staying within four until the waning moments of the contest.
"We're really proud of our team's resilience, toughness and togetherness to keep playing," Tech head coach John Pelphrey said. "We obviously got down by 15 there a couple of times in the second half and still battled our way back and gave ourselves a chance. Much better performance than the last three road games that we had. We wanted to make progress and were really anxious tonight to see where we'd be. We got better."
The Golden Eagles knocked down a season-high 12 triples on the night on 28 attempts, erupting for a season-best 81 points in the loss. Eastern Illinois took the advantage in the paint, outrebounding the purple and gold 36-25 on a night we not too many misses. Tech did force 17 turnovers by the Panthers while making just 13 of its own.
"I think the big focus for us and this basketball team right now is we've got to get better defensively," Pelphrey explained. "We give up 45 points in the first half, and we know we can't do that again in the second half. I guess we did better [laughs]. We only gave up 42. We just need to make an improvement there. There is a lot for us to learn from with this game. You can see that we're physically better than we were a year ago up here. But now it's going to come down to leadership, growth, development and learning."
Pacing the Tech squad throughout the contest was JUCO transfer Damaria Franklin, who turned in a season-high 25 points off the bench. He shot 10-for-16 from the field and 4-for-7 from downtown while corralling four boards and swiping two steals.
Junior guard Jr. Clay was brilliant for the second-straight game, pouring in 19 points on 6-for-13 shooting and a 3-for-6 showing from deep. He played a team-high 38 minutes, despite nursing an injury the past two days of practice. The Chattanooga native extended his consecutive games streak with a made 3-pointer to 21 while also recording his 57th career double-figure scoring performance, moving into sole possession of 19th place in program history.
"I was concerned tonight coming into the game, just having a bunch of guys not available," Pelphrey stated. "Marcus [Hopkins] has been out most of the year and we know now that Taelon [Peter] is going to be out the rest of the year. Dane [Quest] has an injury and didn't make the trip. Kenny [White Jr.] just developed an injury. And it was a big question whether or not Jr. would play in this game. He showed tremendous heart tonight. But these are all things we're going to be able to learn from and grow. I thought we were just competitive. I never thought we lacked effort."
Shandon Goldman set a season-high off the bench with 13 points and a 3-for-6 night from beyond the arc. He also snagged a team-best six rebounds, grabbed two steals and blocked two shots. Keishawn Davidson made it an even four Golden Eagles in double figures, turning in 12 points and a team-high six assists.
Tech will continue its three-game road swing in Ohio Valley Conference play next week with a trip to "Death Valley." The Golden Eagles will square off with Morehead State on Thursday, Jan. 7 at 6:00 p.m. CT before heading to Richmond, Ky. Saturday, Jan. 9 for a 6:00 p.m. tilt with Eastern Kentucky.
Photo by Sandy King, EIU Athletics