By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. – The Tennessee Tech men's basketball team (12-14, 4-9) suffered a setback on their journey to earning a spot in the Ohio Valley Conference tournament Saturday evening, falling in Jacksonville, Ala. to East Division rival Jacksonville State (11-17, 4-9), 82-68.
For just the fourth time this season, the Golden Eagles scored 30 points in the paint in a loss, watching the Gamecocks connect on 47 percent of its field goals and 82 percent of its 28 free throw attempts.
Darion Rackley led Jax State to its victory, scoring a game-high 24 points, including 11 from the charity stripe, grabbing seven rebounds and dishing out six assists with just one turnover. In fact, the Gamecocks turned the ball over just four times.
A career performance from junior swingman Josiah Moore just wasn't enough to ignite the Tech offense. Moore connected on 60 percent of his shots as well as hitting seven of nine free throws to drop a season-high 20 points. He narrowly missed out on his first career double-double after snagging nine rebounds. He added three assists with zero turnovers, a block and a steal in 28 minutes of work.
Charles Jackson crushed the glass on an off shooting night, collecting a game-high 12 rebounds. He scored eight points while hitting just 33 percent of his field goal attempts. Also scoring eight points each were Jordan Johnson and Torrance Rowe.
The Golden Eagles will take a quick detour off the conference schedule with a non-conference match-up at East Tennessee State Monday evening. Tech will take on the Bucs in a 6 p.m. CST contest in Johnson City, Tenn. before returning home for the regular season home finale on Saturday against Belmont.
Photo by Jim Dillon
