By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Tech men's basketball team wraps up its weekend road trip in the Show Me state with a Saturday afternoon affair in St. Charles, Mo., squaring off with Lindenwood at 3:30 p.m. CT.
The action can be followed live via radio with Dylan Vazzano on the call on 106.1 The Eagle while video coverage will be available on ESPN+.
Saturday's match-up represents just the third all-time between the two programs, with the Golden Eagles and Lions each holding a victory in the series. Both teams claimed wins on their respective home courts a season ago. The contest on Saturday marks the only tilt between the two teams this season.
In the inaugural meeting in St. Charles last year, the Lions cruised to an 82-64 romp behind strong shooting and rebounding. Lindenwood shot better than 52 percent from the floor, was 11-for-23 from deep, and 13-of-15 at the line while holding Tech to just 31 percent from the field and 6-for-34 from distance. They also won the battle on the glass, 43-34.
Current senior guard Jayvis Harvey led the Tech effort with 18 points while fellow senior guard Diante Wood chipped in 10 points and five rebounds. Former Golden Eagles Jaylen Sebree and Ty Perry also contributed 10 points each.
On Saturday, the purple and gold dropped a tight, low-scoring affair with the league's top team, falling to Morehead State at home, 67-60. Rebounding was the ultimate factor on the night, with the visiting Eagles beating Tech on the glass, 38-24.
Wood paced the purple and gold in the tilt, finishing with 15 points, three rebounds, and a pair of assists. Davis was right behind, securing 14 points on 6-for-13 shooting with a team-high six dimes and four rebounds.
In the rematch in Cookeville, the Golden Eagles used superior three-point shooting to claim their win in the series, sinking 12-of-32 tries from beyond the arc compared to seven makes for the Lions. Former purple and gold guard Brett Thompson exploded for 28 points and six assists in the contest.
Harvey splashed in 15 points while making all six of his free-throw attempts while Sebree chipped in 14 points and eight boards.
On Thursday, a slow start on offense was too costly for the Golden Eagles to overcome in an 88-69 loss at Southeast Missouri. The Redhawks jumped out to a 12-2 advantage and used 59.7 percent shooting for the game to take as large as a 31-point lead.
Tech outscored SEMO 41-39 in the second half, but it was too late for the purple and gold to get back in the contest. Sophomore guard Josiah Davis led all scorers with a career-high-tying 20 points, including 14 in the second half alone. He finished 8-for-15 from the floor with five boards and three dimes.
Helping with the renewed, second-half effort was junior guard Bogdan Zimonjic. The native of Belgrade, Serbia matched his own career-high in scoring, chipping in eight points and four rebounds with a pair of makes from downtown in 23 minutes off the bench.
Junior forward Rodney Johnson Jr. added 14 points and five rebounds to the mix in 19 minutes of action, finishing 6-for-10 from the floor. Senior guard Diante Wood contributed 11 points and three boards.
Photo by Jan Klestinec-Salmon, SEMO Athletics
