By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
ST. CHARLES, Mo. – Great shooting from distance and at the charity stripe was enough to help the Tennessee Tech men's basketball team pick up its first Ohio Valley Conference win, gather its first road victory of the season, and snap a four-game skid as the Golden Eagles topped Lindenwood, 79-73, at Hyland Arena Thursday evening.
The purple and gold (5-7, 1-1) unleashed a lethal attack from downtown in the opening half in St. Charles, Mo., finishing 7-for-11 to make up for nine turnovers. Heading into the break, the Golden Eagles led the Lions (5-7, 0-1) 42-39 thanks to the seventh triple of the night off the hand of sophomore guard Kyle Layton.
Senior guard and local Rickman native Matthew Sells kept the Cookeville crew in the ballgame in an up-and-down opening stanza, hitting all four of his tries from deep. Sells knocked down a pair on back-to-back treys on the fastbreak early in the contest and then.
After the Golden Eagles fell behind by nine with just under six minutes to go in the first half, Sells doubled down with back-to-back buckets from beyond the arc again, cutting the deficit to just three.
In the second half, the visitors poured it on early, methodically pushing its advantage over the Lions out to 13 points with a little under 10 minutes to play. Lindenwood held the Golden Eagles scoreless for nearly six minutes to pull back within just two points at the 3:35 mark and made it a two-point match-up again with 1:41 to go.
The Lions had a chance to square the clash with 59 seconds on the clock, but missed back-to-back free throws. Tech called for a timeout and drew up a great play for senior forward Rodney Johnson Jr. The veteran delivered a highlight-reel dunk in traffic to make it a four-point game and all but clinch a purple and gold victory with 41 seconds to play.
The Golden Eagles closed things out down the stretch, sinking all six of their free-throw tries over the closing 22 seconds. For the night, Tech shot 45.8 percent from past the party line and finished an efficient 14-of-17 from the charity stripe.
The Cookeville crew also earned a slight edge on the glass, hauling 39 boards to Lindenwood's 38. Tech cut the turnovers down to six in the second half as well and held the Lions to just 3-for-18 shooting from deep in the contest.
Topping the scoring charts on the night with a career-high 22 points, junior guard Jaylon Johnson tallied a pair of treys with six free throws and seven assists in 38 minutes of action. Sells closed his night with 12 points and a pair of dimes.
Layton tacked on 11 points with a team-high three steals in the affair, draining a trio of triples and snagging four boards. Junior forward Ola Ajiboye just missed a double-double, ending his night with season-highs of 10 points and nine rebounds. He also dished out three assists.
Johnson Jr. produced nine points while snagging seven boards and two steals. In just over 15 minutes off the bench, junior guard Ray Glasgow turned in nine points and six rebounds. Sophomore forward JaJuan Nicholls chipped in six points and four boards off the bench as well.
Tech will finally return to Cookeville and the Hooper Eblen Center for the first time in six games and more than 30 days, playing host to Milligan in a 1:00 p.m. CT tilt on Sunday, Dec. 29.
Photo by Thomas Corhern
