By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – A rock-solid showing from the top of the lineup to the bottom helped lift the Tennessee Tech men's basketball team to its third straight win in Ohio Valley Conference action Saturday evening, as the Golden Eagles topped Southern Indiana, 78-65, at Liberty Arena in Evansville, Ind.
The victory represented Tech's third consecutive triumph on the road as well, marking the first three-game road-winning streak for the purple and gold since the 2006-07 season. Eight Golden Eagles contributed to the scoring effort on Saturday, with seven providing at least seven points to the cause.
Staying undefeated on the Screaming Eagles' home court in the two programs' short series history at 3-0, Tech (12-11, 7-5) led for more than 30 minutes on the day, keeping steady control of the contest. Even when USI (9-13, 4-8) took its largest, and final, lead of the day at four points with 2:33 to play in the opening half, the Cookeville crew never wavered.
The purple and gold closed the first period on a 7-0 run, taking a 34-31 lead into the locker room. Tech took a double-digit lead pretty swiftly to open the second half, but Southern Indiana would not go down without a fight.
With 9:38 to play, the Screaming Eagles squared things up at 48-48, making it easy for the Golden Eagles to panic. Instead, the visitors responded with one of its greatest strengths, the 3-point arc.
Junior guard Ray Glasgow drilled a triple to put Tech back up by three before USI went down the floor and missed its next attempt. The Golden Eagles quickly found sophomore Kyle Layton open from downtown and the sharpshooter answered the call with his own trey for a six-point lead.
The attack for the purple and gold was relentless over a four-minute stretch there, dumping a 16-2 run on the Screaming Eagles from the time of the tie to a 64-50 lead with 5:24 left on the clock. Both Glasgow and Layton knocked down another 3-pointer during the hot streak for the Cookeville crew.
For the remainder of the contest, the Golden Eagles managed the free-throw line as Southern Indiana started to foul aggressively with just over two minutes to play. Over the final four minutes of the ball game, Tech attempted 19 of its 20 free throws for the night, sinking 14 of them.
Five Golden Eagles contributed double figures on the scoreboard in the win, led by senior forward Rodney Johnson Jr. The veteran paced the Cookeville crew with 15 points off the bench, snagging seven rebounds as well. Junior guard Jaylon Johnson filled the stats sheet to the tune of 13 points, six boards, and four assists while sinking two triples.
Junior forward Daniel Egbuniwe notched his fourth double-double of the season, and second against the Screaming Eagles, behind 11 points and a team-high 12 rebounds. He also mixed in three assists.
Local Rickman native Matthew Sells tallied 10 points with a couple of 3-pointers and a 4-for-4 night at the line. Junior forward Ola Ajiboye matched his teammate with 10 points off the bench, just missing a double-double with nine rebounds and a team-high three steals. He finished 5-for-7 from the floor.
For good measure, Layton ended the night with seven points and two steals while Glasgow tacked on eight points off the bench. As a unit, the Golden Eagles sunk another nine 3-pointers in the contest, the 20th time in 23 games this season Tech has drained at least eight attempts from beyond the arc. The purple and gold also dominated the glass with a 47-37 advantage.
The Golden Eagles finally return to Cookeville after a four-game stretch on the road, playing host to SIUE next Thursday in the Hooper Eblen Center in a 7:30 p.m. CT affair. Tech will then take on Eastern Illinois on Saturday in a 3:00 p.m. tilt.
Photo by Thomas Corhern
