By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – A great shooting display from beyond the arc and strong defense proved enough for the Tennessee Tech men's basketball team to hold off a suddenly surging Eastern Illinois squad in the Hooper Eblen Center Saturday afternoon by a score of 59-54.
The Golden Eagles (13-12, 8-6) shot the lights of the ball in the opening stanza, hitting 7-of-10 attempts from distance while building a 34-24 halftime lead. Tech opened the contest on a 9-0 run behind a trio of triples, but the Panthers (8-17, 4-10) proved pesky throughout the contest, turning things around and taking as large as a three-point lead.
The purple and gold never panicked, slowly fighting back, taking the lead, and pushing it out to as much as 11 points with 2:32 to go in the opening stanza. It was a mostly back-and-forth affair in the second half, with the Golden Eagles keeping Eastern Illinois at an arm's distance much of the period.
The Panthers eventually trimmed Tech's lead down to just three points with a little over two minutes to play, benefitting from a cold spell by the Cookeville crew. Never deterred, the Golden Eagles found senior forward Rodney Johnson Jr. for a huge 3-pointer to double the lead with 2:18 on the clock.
A layup by EIU with 15 seconds to play cut the advantage to three one final time, but Johnson Jr. sunk back-to-back free throws and the Tech defense held on at the end. It marked the purple and gold's fourth win in the past five games.
Overall, the Golden Eagles sunk 11 treys on 24 attempts during the day, just making up for an 8-for-16 day at the charity stripe. Defensively, the purple and gold limited the Panthers to just 34.4 percent shooting, including a 4-for-18 showing from downtown.
Four members of the Tech crew finished the day in double figures in scoring, led by Jaylon Johnson. The junior guard knocked down a pair of triples while turning in 12 points and team-highs of six rebounds and four assists.
Johnson Jr. produced 11 points on 3-for-4 shooting, backed by a 3-for-3 display from deep. He also corralled six boards with two dimes. Sophomore forward JaJuan Nicholls ended the day 5-for-10 from the floor on his way to 11 points, four rebounds, three assists, and three blocks.
Junior forward Daniel Egbuniwe chipped in 10 points, five boards, two assists while knocking down three of his four attempts from beyond the arc. Rickman native Matthew Sells mixed in six points, three boards, and four dimes with a pair of triples for good measure.
Tech will return to action next Thursday, opening its final road trip of the regular season at Little Rock with a 7:00 p.m. CT contest.
Photo by Jim Dillon
