By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Tech men's basketball team came excruciatingly close to one of the biggest comebacks in program history Thursday night, erasing a 22-point deficit in what would go down as a 72-69 victory for in-state rival Austin Peay.
The Governors (8-4, 4-2) exploded out of the gate, hitting 11 of their first 14 shots and forcing numerous Tech errors on the other side of the court. Austin Peay used the hot start to build a 27-5 advantage with 12:42 to play.
The Golden Eagles (2-14, 2-7) never strayed away from their game plan, using incredible effort and, at times, will to work their way back into the contest and shrink the deficit to single digits at the break. Despite 14 first-half turnovers, the purple and gold trailed just 38-33 at halftime thanks to a 10-for-17 performance from the floor and 6-for-12 showing from deep.
"Overall, I loved our tenacity, our resolve and our toughness," Tech head coach John Pelphrey said. "Austin Peay is obviously a very physical basketball team. To their credit, they came out and took it to us early and we weren't very tough early. It took us a second there to figure out how we were getting beat. I thought our offense really hurt our defense early in the first half because it led to a bunch of easy stuff, much like Belmont."
In the second half, Tech outscored the Govs, 36-34, and made just four turnovers. Midway through the second stanza, Damaria Franklin made the deficit go away completely, making a second-chance layup to give the visitors a 54-53 lead with 9:57 to play.
"We stood up and started playing, and you saw some really good basketball," Pelphrey explained about the comeback. "The ball was moved, guys were getting very good reps in. I think most of our conference games, we've given up 40-plus points in the second half, and we didn't today. So that's progress – on the road – and that's going to have to continue."
Tech led with as little as 3:51 to go in the contest, but Austin Peay forward Terry Taylor put his team on top for good with an old-fashioned 3-point play. Junior guard Jr. Clay's 3-point attempt at the buzzer fell short and the Govs held on despite a career effort from the Tech captain.
"We're going to have to learn from this," Pelphrey said. "There were some missed opportunities with understanding the time to score and capitalizing on free throws. Certainly, you're going to have to have extraordinary effort when you're blocking out Terry Taylor, the [reigning] Player of the Year in our league. If he ever does miss his first shot, chances are he's going to get it back. So those are some of the things we have to learn."
Taylor finished with 24 points and 10 rebounds, but it was Clay who had the big day on the box score. The Chattanooga native exploded for a career-high 29 points on 8-for-16 shooting, including a 9-for-12 performance at the charity stripe. Franklin added 22 points on 9-for-13 shooting, as well as a team-high-tying six boards.
"We have to continue to learn and understand how to keep our turnovers down," Pelphrey expressed. "We have to limit some layups and some second-chance opportunities. And then when we get in these key moments on offense, we need to work together and get our shots. Not any one person's shot, but our shots.
"But I don't think you can question the heart and resolve of the entire team. Even when it wasn't going well, the leadership was great and we started talking. I'm really proud of that. We're not into moral victories, but I told the guys we have to take the emotion from tonight and put it in the right place. We're going to be in some more of these close games and we have to be better in those situations. We have to learn."
The Golden Eagles will return to action Saturday evening, heading to Kentucky to play Murray State in a 7:30 p.m. CT tilt.
Photo by Thomas Corhern
