By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Toughness down the stretch, both mental and physical, lifted the Tennessee Tech men's basketball team to a critical Ohio Valley Conference victory Thursday night, as the Golden Eagles edged Southern Indiana at Screaming Eagles Arena in Evansville, Ind., 82-79.
Tech (14-16, 10-7) used scorching-hot shooting from beyond the arc to take as much as a 12-point lead in the opening half, fending off an 11-0 run by the Screaming Eagles (15-15, 8-9) to earn a 10-point advantage at the break. Over the game's first 20 minutes, the purple and gold drained 9-fo-14 attempts from distance.
Southern Indiana clawed back in the second half, taking advantage of an ice-cold stretch by the Tech offense to take a four-point lead with 9:27 to play. The Golden Eagles shot just 1-for-11 during a 16-2 run by the Screaming Eagles, but never let the home squad pull further away.
Reigning OVC Newcomer of the Week Brett Thompson buried a triple on the next possession to cut the deficit to one. USI answered with a triple of its own, but neither side would score again until rookie Grant Strong delivered a monster make from downtown with 5:42 to pull Tech back to within one.
The Screaming Eagles put forth one more push on offense, extending their lead back to four with just over four minutes to play, but the Tech veterans stepped up down the stretch. Junior guard Jayvis Harvey drilled a trey to once again pull the purple and gold within a point.
On the next possession, a pair of offensive rebounds gave the Golden Eagles a lift, as graduate guard Jaylen Sebree hauled in one off the glass and delivered a go-ahead layup. Both sides traded the lead until a floater in the paint by Sebree gave Tech the lead for good with 1:45 on the clock.
USI trimmed the Golden Eagle advantage to one with a minute to go, but graduate guard Ty Perry delivered the biggest shot of the night, dropping a 3-pointer to beat the shot clock with 33 seconds to play. On the other end of the floor, the Apopka, Fla. native hauled in a defensive board and drew a foul with 18 seconds left in the game.
The point guard calmly converted a pair of free throws, pushing the Tech advantage out to six. It proved critical, as the Screaming Eagles would gather a pivotal three with 11 seconds on the clock to cut it back to a one-possession game.
Tech head coach John Pelphrey and his staff drew up a beautiful, inbounds play during USI's timeout after the bucket, and the Golden Eagles ran it to perfection. Thompson broke free from his defender and raced down the court as Sebree found him wide open on a baseball-style pass about three-quarters of the length of the floor.
Thompson found the bucket and turned in a layup to put the purple and gold back up by five. The Golden Eagles allowed just a single bucket the rest of the way and secured the important win with massive playoff implications.
The victory provided the purple and gold a great path to the No. 2 seed, and an automatic double-bye into the semifinals, in next week's OVC Tournament. A Tech win at Eastern Illinois on Saturday and UT Martin loss at Morehead State would give the Golden Eagles their highest seed at the league's postseason event since claiming the No. 1 overall seed at the 2005 tournament.
Harvey led the purple and gold offensively on the night, providing a team-high 19 points on 5-for-7 efficiency from downtown. He added six rebounds to the mix as well. Sebree turned in 17 points and 10 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the year and second in a row. He also dished out three assists.
Perry finished the contest with 16 points, six boards, and a team-high four assists, hitting 4-of-9 attempts from distance. Thompson rounded out Tech's double-digit scorers, producing 14 points and a season-high eight rebounds. He also contributed a pair of assists. Off the bench, Strong delivered eight clutch points and a trio of boards.
Southern Indiana's Isaiah Swope led all scorers with 26 points on 9-for-18 shooting and a 4-for-8 night from downtown. Jacob Polakovich registered a double-double with 12 points and 15 rebounds while Jeremiah Hernandez scored 12 points. Trevor Lakes produced 11 points and Gary Solomon chipped in 10.
The Golden Eagles will close out the 2022-23 regular season at Eastern Illinois in Charleston, Ill. on Saturday afternoon. Tip for the critical match-up is set for 3:30 p.m. CT.
File photo by Jim Dillon
