By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
CARROLLTON, Ga. – A furious comeback bid just ran out of steam for the Tennessee Tech men's basketball team at The Coliseum Saturday afternoon, as the Golden Eagles fell in their rematch with West Georgia, 78-73 in Carrollton, Ga.
Both offenses lit up the scoreboard to open the day, with the Wolves leading 11-10 at the first media break. West Georgia continued its hot shooting after the timeout, but the Golden Eagle offense went a little flat, allowing the home team to rattle off a 10-0 run.
Starting the affair 8-of-10 from the floor, the Wolves continued to dominate behind a feisty defense that forced seven first-half turnovers by the purple and gold. Outscoring Tech 15-2 off turnovers, the home squad saw its advantage swell to as much as 19 with 90 seconds to play in the opening stanza.
Facing a 49-32 hole walking into the locker room, the Golden Eagles regrouped and began to methodically chip away at the rock in front of them. Within the first six minutes, Tech had the hole down to single digits.
A 9-1 run up to the 28-second mark to play saw the purple and gold close the gap to single bucket at 75-73, but West Georgia hit enough free throws down the stretch to hold on. Tech had a couple of looks from distance, but couldn't connect as the Wolves hauled in a pair of defensive boards.
Senior forward Rodney Johnson Jr. led the Golden Eagles with 17 points, finishing 7-for-10 from the floor. He chipped in seven rebounds and three assists as well. Senior guard Mekhi Cameron finished 5-of-6 from the charity stripe on his way to 15 points for the day, adding three steals and five rebounds for good measure.
Leading Tech with six assists, junior guard Jaylon Johnson secured 12 points with a couple of steals and four boards. Sophomore guard Kyle Layton drained a trio of triples while accumulating 11 points with four rebounds.
Off the bench, junior forward Ola Ajiboye ended the day 4-for-6 for eight points in 19 minutes of action. Fellow junior forward Daniel Egbuniwe led the Golden Eagles with eight rebounds while fighting through a hand injury, ending the day with five points and three assists.
The Golden Eagles will have a 10-day hiatus from competition before returning to the floor on Dec. 17 to open Ohio Valley Conference play with a 7:30 p.m. CT contest at Western Illinois.
File photo by Thomas Corhern
