By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Just days from leading the Tennessee Tech men's basketball team to its first postseason action since 2012, senior guard Torrance Rowe took home another postseason accolade Friday afternoon, earning a spot on the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division I All-District 19 First Team.
The honor comes as no surprise as point guard leads the Golden Eagle squad in scoring and assists, and took home All-Ohio Valley Conference First-Team honors. This season, Rowe leads Tech in scoring with 18.1 points per game, good enough to rank second in the OVC, and with 4.5 assists per game, also ranking fourth in the league. In OVC play, he led the league in scoring, averaging 19.2 points per game.
T-Rowe owns an 87.0 percent shooting touch from the charity stripe, ranking second in the league, and has dished out 135 assists while averaging 35.6 minutes. The Atlanta, Ga. native took home OVC Player of the Week honors three times throughout the season while leading the Golden Eagles to a 19-10 mark, tying for the second-most regular season victories in program history.
One of the league's best free throw shooters, Torrance Rowe set a program record for highest free throw percentage in a game, sinking all 15 of his attempts at the line at Murray State. The previous record belonged to Jud Dillard who went 14-for-14 against Jacksonville State during the 2012-13 season.
The senior turned in one of the best passing performances in program history against Southeast Missouri, dishing out 12 assists with zero turnovers. Only Maurice Houston posted more with zero turnovers, recording 15 dimes against Morehead State in March of 1993.
At Belmont, Rowe sank the second-most 3-pointers in a single game in Tech history, hitting 7-of-15 attempted triples on his way to 27 points.
After dishing out six more assists against Austin Peay in the OVC Tournament, the point guard now has 214 in his brief career, moving him into sole possession of 23rd place all-time in program history. He needs 12 more to pass Leigh Gayden for 22nd place.
For the eighth time in two years, the Golden Eagles completed a comeback of 10 points or more with Rowe making a large impact on the outcome. He has hit the game-winning or tying shot in four of those contests and in five total games.
The Golden Eagles will kick off play in the inaugural Vegas 16 Tournament Monday, March 28 with a 2 p.m. CT tilt against Old Dominion at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nev.
Photo by Jim Dillon
