BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – Gardner-Webb took home court advantage to another level Saturday evening, using a loud crowd presence and hot shooting to drop the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles, 61-41.

The Runnin' Bulldog defense lived up to its hype during the contest. Gardner-Webb came into the game limiting its opponents to just 58.5 points per contest and kept the Golden Eagles at bay with just 41 points.

Tech shot a season-low 29.2 percent from the field, a mark attributed to a smothering GWU defense. If the defense wasn't already  enough, Gardner-Webb got plenty of offense from its top player, Tashan Newsome, who scored 27 points.

GWU opened the contest shooting a solid 9-for-15 from the field and 5-for-7 from three-point range in the first 10 minutes. While the home team cooled off after that, it was enough to hold off the Golden Eagles for the rest of the contest.

Junior forward, Matt Marseille led the Tech scoring effort with 10 points. Redshirt freshman Lanerryl Johnson added eight more. Seniors Terrell Barnes and Jud Dillard paced the Golden Eagles with seven rebounds apiece.

The Golden Eagles will continue their five-game road stretch with a journey to Wisconsin to play the Milwaukee Panthers Saturday, Dec. 15 in a 7 p.m. CST match-up.