By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – A furious comeback bid came up just short in the Ohio Valley Conference opener for the Tennessee Tech men's basketball team Sunday evening, as the Golden Eagles fell to the visiting Jacksonville State Gamecocks, 73-67.
Trailing by as many as 15 points in the second half, the purple and gold couldn't quite make it back over the hump, cutting the deficit to a single marker with 1:41 to play. It would represent the closest Tech would come as the Gamecocks hit some big shots and free throws down the stretch to maintain their advantage and take the first of back-to-back match-up between the two league rivals.
"I thought both teams really competed," Pelphrey said. "It came down to the wire, which was good for us where we are in our growth and development. Coming into tonight, we had kind of been playing like AAU where you really don't get to play together much. Tonight it was a lot more like a true game, and conference-play certainly brings that out. It was a very heavily contested basketball game. I think we've made some progress, but tonight we still came up a little short."
Making his Golden Eagle debut after missing the first five contests of the season due to COVID protocols, junior Damaria Franklin cut the JSU lead to just one point with a layup under two minutes to play. The two sides traded buckets and points, with the visitors never taking more than a four-point advantage until the waning seconds.
Junior guard Jr. Clay, who turned in his first career double-double to earn Special Olympics Player of the Game, recorded Tech's final six points, cutting the deficit to just two points on three separate occasions. For the second-straight game, the Chattanooga native turned in 20 points, hitting 50 percent of his attempts from the field and beyond 3-point range. He also added a career-high 10 assists, helping to account for over half of his team's points on the night.
Franklin led the purple and gold with 21 points, hitting 9-of-16 from the floor and hauling in four rebounds. He also tallied a team-best two steals. The Chicago native dropped the most points by a Golden Eagle in his team debut since Ty Allen scored 25 at USF on Nov. 9, 2013.
"Those guys played very well," Pelphrey expressed. "I thought they competed very well in the game. Jr. had 20 points and 10 assists, which is excellent, and he made some big-time shots. But he can play better. There were some footwork issues there that he had that led to some of his six turnovers, but we'll look at that and work on that. He's a big-time competitor and I thought he did a good job, as well as some of the other guys on the team, of playing from start to finish.
"Damaria, for his first college game [at the Division I level], I thought he did great. It's hard to come out of COVID protocols, especially from a conditioning standpoint. We're not in great shape yet as a team and I know our guys are mentally exhausted from finals and a semester of work. Truthfully, overall, I was very pleased with our performance. But those two guys did outstanding."
Amadou Sylla added eight points and six rebounds off the bench while Keishawn Davidson chipped in seven points and six assists. Tujautae Williams also corralled six rebounds as well, tying with Sylla for the team lead.
"I think if you look at it today with where we are at in our program, wins and losses aren't always indicative of where we are," Pelphrey explained. "That will be an indicator down the road and will be a by-product of us doing a lot of things well. Right now, when you look at our program, we have one scholarship player that we inherited, and that's Jr. Clay. Another young man has a scholarship now, Maverick Smith, but he was a walk-on. If this was the business world, we'd have a start-up company.
"Even though Jr. was a good player for the previous coaching staff and has been an outstanding player for us, there are a lot of new and inexperienced basketball players on this basketball team. We've got great DNA. We have character. We're tough, we work hard and we're resilient. We care, we serve and have unselfishness. Those types of individuals learn, grow and get better, and that is what this is about. That is what this is about."
It won't be a long wait for the Golden Eagles to get their rematch with the Gamecocks. The two OVC foes will square off again Wednesday evening in Jacksonville, Ala. in a 7:30 p.m. CT tilt.
"The past two days were the first time we've had full practice since October 23rd because of COVID," Pelphrey said. "That's a long time ago. So we're looking forward to more practice. We're looking forward to more games and evaluations so we can continue to grow and develop."
File photo by Thomas Corhern
