By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Explosive starts to each half by its opponent proved too much for the Tennessee Tech men's basketball team to overcome Thursday evening, as the Golden Eagles dropped an Ohio Valley Conference tilt at in-state rival Tennessee State, 85-53.
The Tigers (10-9, 3-3) kicked off the evening with a 10-0 run, taking advantage of a sluggish start by the Golden Eagle offense to build a lead they would never relinquish. Tech (7-12, 2-4) fought back by forcing eight, first-half turnovers by TSU, closing the gap to as small as two points and heading into the locker room at the break trailing just 36-30.
Despite trailing by just six at halftime, the Cookeville crew struggled to contain Tennessee State's offensive attack, allowing the Tigers to shoot 63.6 percent from the field over the opening 20 minutes. Tech finished at 43.3 percent for the half, but managed to hit just 1-of-7 attempts from distance as compared to TSU's 6-for-10 mark.
A 22-2 run by the Tigers to open the second stanza put the game out of reach relatively quickly in the second half. TSU continued to attack offensively at an elite rate, firing at 63 percent for another 20 minutes while draining 6-of-11 tries from downtown.
On the flip side, the Golden Eagles could only muster 23 points in the second half, finishing just 29.6 percent from the floor and 0-for-10 from beyond the arc. For the night, the purple and gold shot just 36.8 percent from the field and managed to sink just 1-of-17 shots from 3-point range.
Meanwhile, Tennessee State finished the night an eye-popping 63.3 percent from the field and 57.1 percent from deep, all while hitting 11-of-12 attempts from the charity stripe.
Golden Eagle senior guard Jayvis Harvey led the team's scoring effort on the night, posting 17 points with five rebounds, four assists, and three steals. Junior forward Rodney Johnson Jr. tacked on 13 points and five boards over 31 minutes off the bench.
Joining the double-digit point club for the contest was sophomore guard Josiah Davis, securing 13 points and four rebounds. Sophomore forward Daniel Egbuniwe led the purple and gold with six boards, contributing four points to the mix as well.
Six Tigers score in double figures, with another adding eight points to the winning effort. Christian Brown and Jaylen Jones paced the TSU offense with 14 points each while EJ Bellinger tacked on 13 off the bench.
Tech closes out a crazy January that featured just a single home contest with its final road trip of the month next weekend. The Golden Eagles will visit Eastern Illinois for a 7:30 p.m. CT affair on Thursday, Jan. 25 before ending the month with a Saturday showdown on Jan. 27 at SIUE at 3:30 p.m.
Photo by Thomas Corhern
