By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – A furious comeback bid came up just short for the Tennessee Tech men's basketball team Thursday evening, as the Golden Eagles fell in a 77-70 affair in the Hooper Eblen Center to Ohio Valley Conference rival Southeast Missouri.
The Redhawks (10-9, 5-3) came out firing in the contest and never gave the Golden Eagles (9-9, 4-3) a chance to get comfortable in the opening stanza, limiting the purple and gold to a 1-for-9 showing from distance. Succeeding at a 60 percent clip to open the contest, SEMO took a comfortable, 21-point lead into the locker room after holding Tech to just 26 points.
Junior guard Jaylon Johnson, who was 2-for-2 with four points in the opening period, sparked a massive, second-half rally for the Cookeville crew. The Houston native dropped 17 of Tech's first 26 points in the half, helping slash the deficit to just five points.
With eight minutes to play, local Rickman native Matthew Sells buried a clutch trey in transition, closing the gap to just two points. The Redhawks regrouped during the next media break, using a 9-0 run to push back out by 11 points and keep just enough distance the rest of the way.
Tech closed things back to three points with 90 seconds on the clock, but it would be the closest the home squad would come, as SEMO's Braxton Stacker drained a clutch 3-pointer on the next possession. The purple and gold outscored the Redhawks 44-30 in the second half, shooting 56 percent from the floor, but the team's sluggish first half was too much to overcome.
Southeast Missouri limited the Golden Eagles to a season-low four makes from distance in the affair. Tech also tied its season-low mark of 26 first-half points.
Johnson led all scorers in the contest with a game-high 21 points on 8-for-11 shooting. He added five rebounds and two assists to the mix for good measure. Junior forward Ola Ajiboye tacked on a season-high 13 points of his own, delivering a perfect 4-for-4 display from the floor and a 5-for-6 effort from the charity stripe. The big man dished out three helpers as well.
Junior forward Daniel Egbuniwe flirted with a double-double, ending the evening with nine points, a team-high eight rebounds, and three dimes. Sells also tallied nine points, sinking a pair of triples to lead the team. Junior guard Ray Glasgow chipped in seven points in 15 minutes off the bench.
The Golden Eagles will wrap up the current home stand Saturday afternoon, playing host to Little Rock in a 3:00 p.m. CT match-up in the Hoop.
Photo by Jim Dillon
