By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A hot start wasn't enough to make up for a second half of offensive inconsistency as the Tennessee Tech men's basketball team fell to in-state rival Lipscomb in Nashville Tuesday evening, 78-60.
"I'm really proud of how we started the game," Tech head coach John Pelphrey said. "We caused them a lot of problems in the first half. We made a lot of progress in driving the ball into the paint and kicking it out to the perimeter. We were able to create some fouls on their big fella. We did a really good job in transition and getting out on the break. I don't know how good our defense was, but we did force 11 turnovers in the first half."
The Golden Eagles opened the contest on fire, putting together an early 11-0 run for a 14-4 lead that forced the Bisons to use a timeout. The offense was humming in the first stanza to the tune of 47.8 percent shooting from the field and a 7-for-12 showing from beyond the arc.
Forcing the home team into 11 miscues helped Tech take a 37-33 advantage into the locker room. The tables quickly turned when the two teams took to the floor, with the script flipping in several ways. Lipscomb found a rhythm on offense, firing at a 53 percent clip from the floor while forcing 10 Tech turnovers.
"The problem for us was, and it showed up in the second half, is when they just took care of the ball, they were able to get some really good looks," Pelphrey explained. "The turnovers really kept us in the game and kept us in the lead in the first half.
"I know the score didn't turn out the way we wanted it to, and certainly, there was an opportunity in the second half for us to play better basketball. I did think in the second half, the ball started sticking to our hands a little bit. We started dribbling a little too much. We started to do too many things on our own. Everybody had good intentions, but that's not how you score. For us, when the ball comes to you, it's got to be shot, dribble or pass and in the second half, it started sticking a little bit too much to our hands. So when the ball dies like that, our offense dies. That obviously gave them a tremendous amount of opportunities to go on the break."
Tech opened the contest with a new starting lineup, featuring freshman Keishawn Davidson, sophomores Jr. Clay, Hunter Vick and Amadou Sylla, and senior Cade Crosland. The starting five accounted for over half of the team' scoring production and more than two thirds of the team's rebounding.
"We now have five captains," Pelphrey said. "We named Keishawn Davidson a captain before the game today. We just feel he's really bought it and he's really grown as a leader. So we started our five captains tonight. In order to be a captain, you have to be totally bought it to what's going on. You have to be selfless as a leader. You have to really care about your teammates, and those guys are obviously embracing the work ethic and embracing the culture and accountability we've come here to establish.
On the night, Clay led the Golden Eagle offense with 16 points on 6-for-11 shooting. Crosland added 11 points while Vick accounted for nine and four steals. Sylla snagged a team-high 11 rebounds and Davidson sported six points, three boards and a pair of assists.
Freshman Tujautae Williams established a season-high with 11 points off the bench, shooting 5-for-8 from the field while also corralling six rebounds.
"I'm proud of the guys, but we didn't play with the consistency from one half to the next that you need to come in and win a game on the road tonight," Pelphrey added. "Certainly, we're going to really challenge some of our other players to be able to follow the behavior that's being modeled for them by our captains, in terms of their attitude, their body language and understanding what their role is and commitment to doing that.
"You have to give them [Lipscomb] a lot of credit. They made seven threes in the first half and hit a few in the second half. Lipscomb is a good team, well coached, but this is about us right now trying to become better basketball players."
The Golden Eagles will return to the Eblen Center one final time in 2019, playing host to Western Carolina Saturday afternoon in the second half of a doubleheader with the Tech women's team. Tip for the men's game is slated for a 4:00 p.m. CT start following the women's contest against none other than Lipscomb.
Season tickets for Tennessee Tech basketball are on sale now. Call (931) 372-3940, visit the Hooper Eblen Center ticket office, or log on to TTUSports.com to order yours today.
Photo by Thomas Corhern
