By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
MURRAY, Ky. – A perfect, second-half run by Murray State was the difference of the night for the Tennessee Tech men's basketball team Friday, as the Golden Eagles fell to their former Ohio Valley Conference rival at the CFSB Center, 78-72.
Tech (0-2) kicked off the evening sluggish on the offensive side of the ball, allowing the Racers (2-0) to build a 10-0 lead through the opening five minutes. The home team pushed that advantage out to 15 with under a minute to play in the first stanza, but the purple and gold got five points down the stretch from junior guard David Early, including a buzzer-beating triple to head into the locker room trailing 36-26.
Murray State expanded that lead to a game-high 23 points with just under 11 minutes to play in the contest, thanks to a white-hot start to the half. The Racers scored on each of their first nine possessions, rolling out to a 62-39 lead.
From that point on, the comeback was on. Tech scratched and clawed its way back into the contest, closing to within six points at the end before running out of time. Freshman Kyle Layton put forth a monster effort off the bench in the second half, drilling three buckets from 3-point range to help cut the deficit to under 10 points.
The rookie guard ended the evening with nine points, four rebounds, and two steals with a team-high plus-minus of +15. Junior forward Rodney Johnson Jr. led the purple and gold with 15 points while shooting efficiently on a 7-for-12 effort.
Making his season debut, senior guard Jayvis Harvey produced 13 points, with a team-high four assists and three rebounds in 29 minutes off the bench. Sophomore guard Josiah Davis tacked on 12 points on 6-for-10 shooting to go along with five rebounds and two dimes.
Early chipped in nine points and two boards while sophomore guard Grant Strong led the team with six rebounds to complement four points and two assists.
Tech outscored the Racers by four in the second half, registering 46 points. The Golden Eagle bench was highly valuable, outpacing the Murray State bench, 45-13.
The Golden Eagles will make their home debut in the Hooper Eblen Center Tuesday evening with a 6:00 p.m. CT tilt against in-state rival Lipscomb.
Photo by Dave Winder, Murray State Athletics
