By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – It did not take long into the 2014-15 season for the Tennessee Tech men's basketball team to stamp its place in the history books. In fact, it took only the third game of the campaign for the Golden Eagles to soar to a place of rarified air, providing a late-November crowd in the Eblen Center with one of the most captivating components in the allure of sports.
A comeback.
And what a one it was.
It's been over 25 years. Upwards of 750 contests, and yet, in recent recollection, there has not been a game quite like the one witnessed five days before Thanksgiving in 2014. The deficit – 19 points. The time – less than 18 minutes. The opponent – Chattanooga. The stage – set.
In the first meeting between the two in-state foes in 13 years, the wait certainly proved to be well worth it, with Tennessee Tech ultimately prevailing behind a 69-67 triumph for one of the largest comebacks in program history. In only his third game donning the purple and gold, junior transfer Torrance Rowe gave an early glimpse to what would soon grow into a trademark of the future All-OVC first teamer, an uncanny ability to come up in the clutch.
With the game squared at 65-65 for the affair's first deadlock since the opening tip, the newest Golden Eagle guard decided to take matters into his own hands, bringing the ball up the court before hitting a contested, NBA-range three-pointer with just 31 seconds left to give Tech its first lead of the night. An ensuing dunk by the Moc's Justin Tuoyo cut the contest to a one-point margin at 68-67, but the Golden Eagles would not be deterred.
After a UTC foul, senior forward Dwan Caldwell connected on one-of-two free throws with only 6.6 seconds left to push the Tech edge to 69-67, setting up one final Chattanooga look to determine whether or not TTU's bid at history would be secured. Ronrico White raced the ball up the court, but his desperation jumper as time expired would go begging, officially sealing the deal on Tech's story of resurgence.
Rowe led all scorers with 18 points, including 11 in the final 15 minutes to help the Golden Eagles etch their names in TTU comeback lore. Fellow junior transfer Charles Jackson had his own piece of program history, ending with 15 points and 11 rebounds for his third consecutive double-double to start the season, joining TTU Sports Hall of Famer Damien Kinloch as the only other player since 1984-85 to start his career with three straight double-doubles. Jackson would go on to take home All-OVC newcomer honors at season's end after leading the league and finishing top five in the nation with 18 double-doubles.
Caldwell concluded with nine points, seven rebounds and a game-high four steals, while junior Josiah Moore provided the Golden Eagles with a strong presence off the bench thanks to seven points, all in the second half, including the game-tying layup with only 1:22 left.
The opportunity for a Tennessee Tech comeback presented itself thanks in large part to a dominating first-half performance put on by the Mocs, one that saw the club shoot 51.6% from the field and force 13 Golden Eagle turnovers to enter intermission with a 17-point cushion at 43-26. Chattanooga would go on to bump the margin to a game-best 19-point differential behind a Justin Tuoyo layup in the early stages of the second half.
Charles Jackson would respond with a three-point play that cut the margin to 16 with just over 17:30 remaining, but Tech was unable to significantly close the distance until the game was over three quarters old. In fact, with less than 9:30 remaining, the Golden Eagle gap was still as large 14 points at 57-43, but one could argue that a key defensive play helped swing the tide and flip the script in propelling the purple and gold toward conquering the steep mountain ahead of them.
Senior Javon McKay's steal led directly to a Shirmane Thomas layup with 9:11 remaining to shrink the deficit down to a dozen at 57-45. More importantly, McKay's thievery ignited a spark that saw the Golden Eagles put together a 10-0 run in less than a two-minute span to jump right back in the thick of things, now down 57-53.
The Mocs responded with four straight of their own to go up 61-53, but a 15-4 Tech spurt over the next five minutes, capped off by Rowe's heroics on his go-ahead three-pointer put the Golden Eagles up for good.
Comeback – complete.
