By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – An elite offensive showing and solid rebounding lifted the Tennessee Tech men's basketball team to a huge home victory in the Hooper Eblen Center Wednesday afternoon, as the Golden Eagles blitzed past visiting Presbyterian in a 90-75 affair.
The purple and gold (4-3) fired away from distance at a red-hot clip of 46.7 percent, sinking 14-of-30 attempts. For the game, the Tech offense shot 50 percent from the floor and out-rebounded the Blue Hose (5-4) 39-26.
It was a seesaw battle for the opening 10 minutes of the contest, with both sides trading the lead five times with a trio of ties. The Golden Eagles caught fire over the second half of the opening stanza, closing things out on an 11-0 run over the final 2:26.
The star of the day, junior guard Jaylon Johnson, put an exclamation point on the half, corralling an offensive board and launching a try to beat the buzzer and give Tech a 45-29 lead heading into the locker room.
The Cookeville crew pushed its advantage all the way out to 26 with under seven minutes to play, using the distance to pick up a massive, 15-point win over a Presbyterian team that had just won the Axe'Em Classic last week with three straight wins.
Johnson led the way for the purple and gold flirting with a triple-double and settling for a good, old-fashioned double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds. He mixed in a game-high eight assists while sinking five of his eight tries from distance.
Sophomore guard Kyle Layton matched his teammate's efforts from beyond the arc, also draining 5-of-8 attempts from downtown on his way to 15 points, five assists, and two steals. Junior forward Daniel Egbuniwe turned in 16 points, six rebounds, two assists, a steal, and a block.
Senior forward Rodney Johnson Jr. was particularly efficient on the day, connecting on seven of his eight field goal attempts. The big man scored 14 points with three dimes and two boards in just 21 minutes of action. Senior guard Mekhi Cameron chipped in 13 points and four rebounds as well.
In 19 minutes off the bench, junior forward Ola Ajiboye ended the day 3-for-4 with six points, five rebounds, and two blocks.
The Golden Eagles return to the floor on Friday afternoon, heading to Nashville for a 2:00 p.m. CT match-up at Vanderbilt.
Photo by Jim Dillon
