By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – It was a heart-wrenching end to a remarkable season for the Tennessee Tech men's basketball team Saturday evening, as the No. 2 seeded Golden Eagles were defeated in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament championship game by No. 5 Southeast Missouri (19-16) in overtime, 89-82.
Falling in the title bout is never an easy task, but the Golden Eagles (16-17) suffered the loss in about the worse way imaginable, believing they had ended a 60-year NCAA Tournament drought and captured their first-ever OVC Postseason Tournament title in regulation, not once, but twice.
Trailing by seven with just over a minute to play, junior guard Jayvis Harvey buried a critical 3-pointer to cut the deficit to four. With the Redhawks looking to advance the ball up the court, Ty Perry tied up the SEMO ball handler, forcing a turnover and giving Tech possession with 43 seconds on the clock.
Harvey went to work, fighting his way to rack and draining a layup with 30 seconds to go for a two-point game. Tech's defensive pressure continued, forcing another Southeast Missouri turnover with 22 seconds.
The Golden Eagles appeared to have won the game for the first time, as junior guard Brett Thompson drilled a clutch triple with 10 seconds to play, giving the purple and gold a one-point lead. SEMO raced the ball down the court, pulled up for a trey, and missed the shot. Or so it seemed. Tech was called for a late foul on the try, sending Redhawk guard Chris Harris to the line for three free throws.
After the eventual OVC Tournament MVP sunk all three tries, Tech turned in what would later appear as the No. 1 play on SportsCenter's Top-10 Plays. With two seconds to play, graduate forward Jaylen Sebree heaved a baseball pass down the court and junior guard Diante Wood hauled it in.
The Golden Eagle captain turned, pulled up, and connected on a fade-away, buzzer-beating 3-pointer that sent the Tech bench into a frenzy and the Cookeville crew dancing into March Madness. Or so it seemed. Again. The officials went to the monitor and, after a lengthy review, overturned the triple to a two-point bucket, revealing that Wood's foot was barely on the 3-point arc.
The clutch bucket still forced overtime, giving Tech new life and one more opportunity to capture the win. In the end, SEMO's defense held up in the extra session, holding the Golden Eagles to 1-for-6 from the floor and capturing the Redhawks their first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 2000.
Not enough can ever be written or said about the effort of head coach John Pelphrey's 2022-23 squad, a team that started league play 0-2 following an 18-point loss at first-year Division I foe Lindenwood in December. The resiliency that the team showed the remainder of the season, one that saw the Golden Eagles finish second in the OVC standings while finishing 11-5 over the final 16 conference games, was on full display Saturday evening.
Wood led the cause, dazzling Tech fans with one of the gutsiest performances in recent memory. The Anniston, Ala. native saw his first game action since suffering an injury that required a trip to the emergency room at Tennessee State on Feb. 11 during TTU's semifinal triumph over UT Martin just a night before.
On Saturday, he was special, leading the Golden Eagles with a career-high 24 points and taking over a Tech offense that saw its fair share of struggles on the night. He added seven rebounds and four assists while sinking 8-of-10 attempts from the charity stripe.
Thompson turned in another fantastic showing, pouring in 18 points with five boards and a pair of dimes. Playing in their final games in the purple and gold after coming to Tech as graduate transfers in the offseason, both Sebree and Ty Perry made their mark in the contest.
Sebree racked up 14 points, five boards, and a game-high three blocks while Perry registered nine points and a career-high eight rebounds. Harvey chipped in 13 points with a team-high five assists and four rebounds. Both Sebree and Wood were named to the OVC All-Tournament Team for their efforts in the league's postseason event.
Photo by Thomas Corhern
