By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Tech men's basketball continues its fight for a first-round bye at the Ohio Valley Conference Championships next week, playing host to Western Illinois on Thursday evening in a 7:30 p.m. CT showdown in the Hooper Eblen Center.
The action can be followed live via radio with Roger Ealey and Metz on the call on 106.1 The Eagle while Dylan Vazzano and Steve Smith will provide video coverage of the contest on ESPN+. The contest will also be featured live locally on WCTE.
Tech enters the match-up tied for fourth place in the OVC standings with its in-state rival, Tennessee State.
It will also be Gold Rush in the Hoop on Saturday, with fans encouraged to wear gold and pack the stands for a thrilling day of basketball. Gold t-shirts will be distributed throughout the game as well.
Thursday's match-up marks just the fifth in program history between Tech and Western Illinois, with the Leathernecks holding a 3-1 advantage. Squaring off for the first time as OVC opponents last year in Cookeville, Western Illinois edged the Golden Eagles in a 62-55 decision in the Hoop.
Tech's lone win in the short series history came in the most recent affair prior to WIU's addition to the OVC. The Cookeville crew bested the Leathernecks in Cookeville back on Jan. 9, 1989, using a 65-60 edge to get the job done.
In this season's first meeting between the two squads, the Golden Eagles dropped a heartbreaker up in Macomb, 71-68, on Dec. 17 in the conference opener. Locked in a stalemate at 31-31 at halftime, Tech lost all momentum when senior guard Mekhi Cameron suffered a season-ending lower-body injury just before the first media break of the second half.
The two sides battled back and forth down the stretch, but the Leathernecks held on in the end after a potential game-tying triple from senior forward Rodney Johnson Jr. rolled around the iron and back out at the buzzer.
Junior guard Ray Glasgow led the Cookeville crew with 20 points on 7-for-9 shooting with four triples on six tries. Johnson Jr. produced his first double-double of the year, scoring 19 points while hauling in a career-high 16 rebounds. Joining in on the double-digit scoring efforts was Jaylon Johnson, who provided 12 points.
Western Illinois enters Thursday's contest after topping Lindenwood, 86-81 in overtime, on Senior Night in Macomb on Tuesday evening. The OVC's leading 3-point shooter, Marko Maletic, delivered the shot of the night, draining a game-tying bucket from beyond the arc with one second left to force the extra session.
In overtime, the Macomb mob outpaced the Lions 13-8 to collect its fifth league win of the year.
Tech takes on the Leathernecks after knocking off in-state rival Tennessee State, 77-74, on national television on ESPNU last Saturday in the Hoop. The Golden Eagles rallied from a 10-point deficit with 14:32 to play, building as large as a nine-point lead of their own after holding the Tigers to just one bucket over a seven-minute stretch.
TSU pulled to within three and got the ball back following a turnover by the Golden Eagles on the ensuing inbounds play. Tech hunkered down on defense, forcing a bad shot, hauling in the board, and holding on for the huge league win.
Leading the way for the purple and gold was Johnson Jr., dropping a game-high 20 points while tying for the team lead with eight rebounds. Johnson tacked on 15 points with seven assists, sinking 10-of-14 attempts from the charity stripe.
Junior forward Daniel Egbuniwe connected for 11 points while hauling in eight boards. He didn't finish stuffing the stat sheet there either, accumulating three assists and a whopping five steals. Layton rounded out Tech's double-digit scorers, contributing 10 points with a pair of steals.
Local Rickman native Matthew Sells buried a trio of treys on his way to nine points off the bench while junior forward Ola Ajiboye produced three points, six rebounds, and two dimes.
Photo by Thomas Corhern
