By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Tech men's basketball team wraps up its home weekend Saturday afternoon with a 3:00 p.m. CT affair against Eastern Illinois in the Hooper Eblen Center.
The action can be followed live via radio with Roger Ealey and Frank Harrell on the call on 106.1 The Eagle while Dylan Vazzano and Steve Smith will provide video coverage of the contest on ESPN+.
Saturday's match-up marks the 53rd in program history between Tech and Eastern Illinois. The Golden Eagles own a 33-19 advantage in the series, including a dominant, 19-6 lead when competing in the Hoop. Tech has claimed seven of the last eight meetings between the two squads, including each of the past four in Cookeville.
Back on Jan. 9, the Golden Eagles delivered a spectacular second-half effort to pick up a 69-64 victory over the Panthers in Charleston, Ill. Trailing by nine after finishing the opening stanza 1-for-13 from the floor, Tech turned things around with a 10-0 run out of the locker room.
The purple and gold expanded it to a 23-5 run, providing enough room to hold off a comeback bid by the Panthers.
Junior forward Daniel Egbuniwe dropped his second double-double of the season in the win, tying for the team lead with 13 points while pacing the squad with 10 rebounds. Junior guard Jaylon Johnson matched his teammate with 13 points, sinking 3-of-6 attempts from downtown while leading the game with six assists and no turnovers.
Sophomore guard Kyle Layton mixed in 10 points and three assists, locking down a perfect 7-for-7 showing at the charity stripe on a night when the Golden Eagles shot just 62.5 percent at the line. Fellow sophomore JaJuan Nicholls also contributed 10 points on 3-for-6 efficiency, hauling in seven boards with four free throws.
Eastern Illinois enters Saturday's contest following a tough road loss at in-state rival Eastern Illinois Tuesday evening. The Cougars limited the Panthers to just 41 points on the night, overcoming a 22-point first half of its own with 44 second-half points for a 66-41 victory.
Tech squares off with EIU after falling to SIUE, 75-58, in the Hoop Thursday evening. Before the purple and gold could even take the court in the Hooper Eblen Center, there was a delay of more than 90 minutes during the second quarter of the Tech and SIUE women's contest due to a number of local tornado warnings.
The Golden Eagle offense struggled throughout the evening, being held to a season-low three makes from distance and a 40.7 field goal percentage. SIUE's Ray'Sean Taylor was one of the few shooters to find their rhythm on the night, dropping a game-high 28 points while hitting 7 of his 10 attempts from downtown.
Nicholls paced the purple and gold with 16 points and six boards, sinking seven of his 10 attempts from the floor. He picked up two steals and a block as well. Egbuniwe added 10 points to the scoring mix.
Johnson turned in nine points with three dimes, four rebounds, and two steals while junior forward Ola Ajiboye chipped in nine points, four boards, and three assists of his own in 16 minutes off the bench.
Photo by Thomas Corhern
