By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The hot hands of SIUE proved too much to overcome for the Tennessee Tech men's basketball team Thursday evening, as the Golden Eagles fell to the visiting Cougars in their only meeting of the season, 81-63, in the Hooper Eblen Center.
SIUE hit each of its five 3-pointers to open the contest and connected on 8-of-12 tries from deep during the opening stanza. Tech kept pace for the first 10 minutes, but the Cougars shot 57.1 percent in the first half, slowly pulling away after a lull on the offensive side of the ball for the Golden Eagles.
"I thought SIUE was just a very hot ball club shooting the basketball," Tech head coach John Pelphrey said. "They made a lot of shots there in the first half and I think it was really deflating for us. The eight threes in the first half really affected us mentally. We have to find a way to be tougher, to play better defense and try to force them into some misses. Stuff is going to happen in a basketball game, stuff is going to happen in life, and you have to stay with it."
The visitors didn't let up in the second half, shooting even better from the floor at a 60 percent clip that included a 4-for-8 showing from distance. Consistency for the Golden Eagles was a challenge, but the effort was there from each player that took the floor. While SIUE extended its lead to 27 with under four minutes to play, Tech closed the contest on a 9-0 run, showing off its tenacity and refusal to quit.
"I thought we came out in the second half and right off the bat we got two layups and I think a 3-point shot and we were not able to convert any of those, and I think that affected us," Pelphrey explained. "It kind of set the tone for us in the second half. The guys kept battling and kept fighting, but they just played better than us tonight. We didn't have an answer for them."
For the contest, the Cougars finished an astounding 12-for-20 from downtown, shooting 58.5 percent from the floor, 60 percent from 3-point range and 77.8 percent from the charity stripe. Tech finished with percentages of 43.5 from the field, 25.0 from deep and 57.1 from the free-throw line.
Jr. Clay led all scorers on the night with a game-high 19 points while dishing out three assists and racking up three steals. The junior guard moved into a tie for 27th on the program's all-time scoring list with Willie Jenkins and into ninth place in Tech history in career steals. He also hit a 3-pointer for the 31st-consecutive contest, the third-longest streak in school history.
Sophomore point guard Keishawn Davidson led Tech with a season-high eight assists and tied for the team lead with six boards while scoring five points. Both Dane Quest and CJ Gettelfinger chipped in eight points off the bench while Damaria Franklin, Austin Harvell and Shandon Goldman each contributed seven points.
"They played really well," Pelphrey said of SIUE. "You have to give their players a lot of credit. You have to give their coaches a lot of credit. They were just a better basketball team tonight. We have a short time to regroup here and to make sure we get our minds on the right things so we can play better basketball."
The Golden Eagles will continue their three-game homestand Saturday afternoon, playing host to Eastern Illinois in a 4:00 p.m. CT tilt following the Tech women's contest at 1:00 p.m.
File photo by Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
