By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Eastern Illinois won a nailbiter over Tennessee Tech in Charleston. On Saturday, it was the Golden Eagles' turn.
After the visiting Panthers took a 68-67 lead with just over two minutes remaining in the contest, Peyton Carter pulled down an offensive board and put the ball back in to retake the advantage at 69-68 and 1:46 left.
At 1:04, Anna Walker drained a 3-pointer to make it a four-point lead, but EIU's Charita Lewis halved the lead with a jumper at 54 seconds remaining. Lewis and Ellie Buzzelle fouled the Golden Eagles, the latter putting Reghan Grimes at the line for a pair with 14 seconds left.
Grimes drained the first, but missed the second with Walker grabbing the loose board. She kicked the ball over and it ended up in the hands of Maaliya Owens, who was fouled by Lewis with six seconds remaining. Owens iced the game as she hit both free throws with six seconds remaining.
With a last-ditch effort, Ellie Buzzelle knocked down a 3-pointer as time expired, wrapping up the game as a 75-73 Golden Eagle victory.
Tech (15-12, 10-6 Ohio Valley Conference) moves into a tie for second-place with the Panthers and UT Martin. While neither team can catch Southern Indiana at the top, Morehead State and Little Rock – who lost to Lindenwood on Saturday – are breathing down those teams' necks, waiting for a slip-up in the final two games of the regular season.
At stake is a two-game bye in the OVC tournament. With Southern Indiana ineligible for the NCAA Tournament as a reclassifying team, the double-bye becomes crucial to earn a potential trip to the postseason, which makes next week's games at UT Martin on Thursday and Little Rock on Saturday important to the Golden Eagles.
Of course, with Saturday being Senior Day, it was only fitting that Tech's top four scorers were among the honorees following the game. Owens collected 21 points, including three 3-pointers. Yaubryon Chambers had 15 points as she went 6-for-8 from the floor and pulled down five rebounds. Walker added 14 points and five boards, while Peyton Carter collected her second double-double of the season as she scored 10 points and had 10 rebounds to go along with six assists.
Macy McGlone ended the game with a game-high 25 points as she shot 7-for-13 from the field and 11-for-12 from the charity stripe. EIU (13-14, 10-6 OVC) went 14-for-17 at the line for the game. McGlone completed the double-double as she also collected 11 caroms. Buzzelle had 10 points for EIU's other double-digit scorer of the game. Miah Monahan had nine assists.
The Golden Eagles came out in force early on, outscoring the Panthers 21-10 in the opening quarter. McGlone had six of those 10 points as EIU drained four of its 14 shots. The tide turned in favor of the Panthers in the second quarter – despite Tech collecting its largest lead of the game at 21-8 – as EIU outscored Tech 22-8 with nine of those points coming at the line. McGlone was 6-for-6 at the line with the Golden Eagles charged with seven fouls to EIU's two.
EIU led the game 32-29 at the half, but Tech surged back in the third quarter, outscoring the Panthers 27-17. McGlone once again had six points as she went 2-for-2 from the field and at the line, but Owens went 3-for-4 from the field for seven points and Walker 4-for-8 for nine. Tech reclaimed a nine-point lead before the quarter ended, but McGlone drained a second-chance jumper at 15 seconds left to make it a 56-49 Tech lead at the end of the third quarter.
EIU outscored Tech 24-19 in the fourth quarter with just the one lead change with 2:15 to go in the contest. Owens had seven points in the finale for the Golden Eagles, while Buzzelle had eight and McGlone seven during the Panthers' furious comeback.
In all, the game was tied three times with four lead changes. The Golden Eagles led the game for nearly 36 of the 40 minutes.
With their sixth straight victory, the Golden Eagles will close out the regular season next week as they travel to UT Martin on Wednesday, then head to Little Rock on Saturday.
Photo | Jim Dillon
