By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
CHARLESTON, Ill. – It couldn't get any closer than it did Thursday night during Tennessee Tech's battle with Eastern Illinois – and what a battle it was. Every time a team went on a run, the other bounced right back.
The Golden Eagles had a 3-point lead with under a minute to go, but Miah Monahan knotted the game up with 27.1 seconds to play with a deep shot. After Tech advanced the ball on a timeout, the Golden Eagles wore down the clock to around five seconds before a drive to the basket resulted in a traveling call.
Eastern Illinois advanced the ball up as well, feeding the ball in off of a screen and worked it inside to Macy McGlone waiting underneath the basket. The Panthers' leader laid up the ball and the shot swished through just as time expired, ending the game in heartbreaking fashion for the Golden Eagles as EIU ended the game victorious at 73-71.
Tech falls to 8-10 overall, 3-4 in the Ohio Valley Conference, while Eastern Illinois improves to 8-12, 5-2 in the league. The Golden Eagles return to action on Saturday as they take on SIUE at 1 p.m. to continue the road trip.
Maaliya Owens led Tech with 20 points, including four 3-pointers, as she was 6-for-15 from the field, while also pulling down six rebounds with two assists, two steals and a block. Reghan Grimes followed up her 31-point performance last week at Tennessee State with 17 points against the Panthers, shooting 7-for-12 from the floor with seven rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block.
Monahan led the Panthers in scoring with 20 points, while McGlone earned the double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds. Taris Thornton also scored in double-figures, collecting 11 points.
But the battle never stopped – after the Panthers jumped out to the first two buckets of the game, Tech responded with 12 straight points. EIU answered back with a 10-point run of its own and the first quarter ended all square at 14.
Tech led by as many as nine points midway through the second quarter, while Eastern Illinois led by as many as eight points midway through the third quarter.
The second and third quarters were inverses of each other as Tech outscored the Panthers 22-20 in the second, then EIU won the third 22-20, making it a 56-56 contest at the end of the third quarter as Monahan beat the buzzer on a fast break layup off of a turnover.
So it all came down to the final 10 minutes of the game. In the fourth quarter alone, there were four ties and four lead changes as both teams went on five-point runs – Tech's at 1:26 remaining in the game, Eastern's to close out the game on Monahan's 3-pointer and McGlone's layup at the buzzer.
Grimes put the Golden Eagles on her back down the stretch, scoring eight of Tech's 15 points in the final period as she was 3-for-4 from the field and 2-for-4 at the line and matching McGlone's output on the other end. McGlone, however, pulled down six rebounds, including three offensive boards, helping lead to seven second-chance points.
In all, there were eight total lead changes and seven ties.
Photo | Dayton Simpson, EIU Athletics
