MONDAY'S SCORES
Tennessee State 68, South Alabama 57 (Atlanta, Ga.)
Louisiana Tech 67,
Southeast Missouri 63 (Chattanooga, Tenn.)
Oregon 67,
Jacksonville State 45
TENNESSEE STATE 68, SOUTH ALABAMA 57
ATLANTA - The Tennessee State men’s basketball team notched its first win of the season with a 68-57 victory over the Jaguars of South Alabama.
Junior guard Patrick Miller led the Tigers in points, assists and steals with 14, eight and four, respectively. Miller also had five of TSU’s 46 rebounds. The Tigers had 15 more rebounds than their opponents, finishing with 46 as a team.
TSU won the tip and within three seconds Covington had his first points of the game. The bucket set the tone early for the Tigers, as they started the game on a 13-2 run. During the run, guards Jay Harris and Patrick Miller combined for 11 of the team’s points. Harris was 3-3 in the stretch with a three-pointer.
South Alabama’s Mychal Ammons got the Jaguars within six at 16-10 with a strong drive in the lane. The layup was just two of his half-high nine points during the period.
The Tigers kept a large cushion through the next seven minutes, and eventually went up by nine when a missed three by Jordan Cyphers was tip-slammed home by Michael Green. A layup from Kellen Thornton with 2:30 left in the first period gave the Tigers a 13-point lead- their biggest of the half. Another layup from Thornton made the score 36-24 in favor of TSU heading into the break.
TSU shot 45 percent from the floor during the first half which was nearly 15 points higher than its season average.
USA came out strong to start the second period and went on an 11-2 run to cut the TSU lead to three. The Tigers were 0-6 from the field during the run. With the lead down to just a couple, the Tigers came roaring back with a 13-4 run that was sparked by a pair of buckets from Robert Covington. Covington finished the game with nine points and a team-high 10 rebounds.
After a bucket by South Alabama made the score 51-43, the TSU defense held pat and didn’t allow the Jaguars to make a field goal for the next nine minutes.
During those nine minutes, DeShawn Dockery drained a three and Miller assisted Rhett on an alley-oop. Those scores, plus a handful of others, allowed TSU to extend its lead to as many as 21 with just minutes to go in the game.
USA ended the game on a 10-0 run, but it wasn’t nearly enough, as TSU walked away with an eleven-point victory.
LOUISIANA TECH 67, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 63
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Louisiana Tech (3-1) drained eight three-pointers and used a big run early in the second half to get by Southeast Missouri (3-2), 67-63, Monday afternoon at the CBE Classic.
Southeast led, 32-31, at halftime, but fell victim to a 12-0 Louisiana Tech run over the first 5:27 of the second stanza.
The Redhawks turned the ball over five times and missed seven shots, while the Bulldogs built their largest lead of the game. Brandon Gibson scored back-to-back baskets to cap the stretch that gave Louisiana Tech a 43-32 lead with 14:47 left to play.
Southeast responded with a 10-5 jaunt of its own and pulled to within six (45-39) on Marland Smith's free throws with 12:35 left, but Cordarius Johnson knocked down a three-pointer on two-straight possessions to nab the Bulldogs a 51-42 advantage.
The Redhawks kept battling and made it a one-possession game twice in the last eight minutes, but couldn't get over the hump. Nino Johnson's layup cut Louisiana Tech's lead to 53-50 at the 8:09 mark before Gibson quickly scored on a layup at the other end.
Johnson then split a pair of free throws to narrow the gap to 55-52 with 5:42 remaining. However, Kenneth Smith tossed in a three-pointer the next time the Bulldogs had the ball.
Southeast turned the ball over 15 times, with nine of its miscues coming in the second half.
Tyler Stone and Johnson each posted a double-double to lead the Redhawks. Stone scored 17 points and grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds, while Johnson followed with 10 points and 10 boards. Stone notched his second-straight double-double. In addition, Johnson gathered a career-high five blocks in a physical game which saw a combined 14 swats between the two teams.
Corey Wilford turned in another nice game off the bench, adding 16 points and three rebounds in 29 minutes. It marked Wilford's second-consecutive double-digit effort. Southeast shot under 40 percent (38.3) from the field for the second time this season. The Redhawks made 23-of-60 shots and hit just 4-of-13 from three-point range.
Raheem Appleby led three Louisiana Tech starters in double figures with 21 points. Johnson and Gibson scored 15 and 12, respectively. Michale Kyser contributed five blocks for the Bulldogs, as well. The Bulldogs also shot under 40 percent, making 25-of-67 field goals for a .373 clip. Gibson (2), Abbleby (1), Smith (1) and Johnson (3) accounted for seven of Louisiana Tech's eight treys.
OREGON 67, JACKSONVILLE STATE 45
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) - Tony Woods scored a career-high 17 points as Oregon remained undefeated with a 67-45 victory over Jacksonville State on Monday night.
E.J. Singler added 11 points and Artis Hicks had 10 for the Ducks (4-0), who are off to their best start since also going 4-0 in 2007-08 -- the last year they went to the NCAA tournament.
Woods was 8 for 12 from the field and also tied his career high with five blocks.
Chris Deanes had 10 points for the Gamecocks (3-2), who have dropped consecutive games after opening the season with three straight wins for their best start in 18 seasons. And much like their 77-58 loss to No. 18 UNLV last Saturday, this one wasn't close.
Oregon led 37-20 at halftime. Woods had 12 points and four blocks in the first half, and Singler had 11 points with three 3-pointers.