THURSDAY'S SCORES
UNC Asheville 61,
Tennessee Tech 55 (Chattanooga, Tenn.)
@Morehead State 84, Transylvania 59
@Eastern Illinois 96, Rockford 64
UNC ASHEVILLE 61, TENNESSEE TECH 55
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - In a game of runs, it was UNC Asheville that came out on top in the final game of the Coke Zero Sugar Classic Thursday evening, as the Tennessee Tech men's basketball team fell to the Bulldogs at McKenzie Arena, 61-55.
The Golden Eagles endured a tough night shooting the basketball, particularly from downtown. For the first time since Feb. 10, 2011, the purple and gold failed to connect from beyond the arc, finishing 0-for-21.
Despite the struggles from 3-point range, the Tech defense held its own, propelling the team back from a 12-point, second-half deficit and into the lead. A 19-4 run by the Golden Eagles saw the squad jump into a six-point advantage.
Just before the final media break of the contest, UNCA Asheville forced a Tech turnover and score a bucket, cutting the advantage to four. The Bulldogs held the purple and gold without a basket the remainder of the night, using four more turnovers down the stretch to end the game on a 12-0 run.
Both defenses were hard at work during the evening, with the Bulldogs forcing 21 Tech turnovers. The Golden Eagles forced 16 by UNCA. The purple and gold also dominated the glass, hauling in 47 boards to just 31 for UNC Asheville.
Transfer guards Diante Wood and John Pettway led the Golden Eagles offensively during the contest, combining for 27 of the team's 55 points. Wood hit 6-of-8 tries from the field on his way to 14 points while Pettway, also 6-for-8 from the floor, finished with 13 points.
Forward Amadou Sylla hauled in a game-high 11 rebounds with eight points while fellow Bamako, Mali native Mamoudou Diarra corralled seven boards with six points. Jr. Clay chipped in six points, five rebounds, and three steals.
MOREHEAD STATE 84, TRANSYLVANIA 59
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Sophomore guard Ta'Lon Cooper came within two rebounds of a triple-double and several other career-highs occurred Thursday night as the Morehead State men's basketball team raced past Transylvania (Ky.) 84-59 at Johnson Arena to even the Eagles' record at 2-2.
Cooper recorded a career-high 12 assists and also scored 12 points while grabbing a career-best eight rebounds. Morehead State also canned a season-best 16 three points on 35 attempts for a season-best 46 percent efficiency from beyond the arc, the most three-pointers sunk by an Eagle squad since hitting 18 versus Central Arkansas on Dec. 19, 2016.
Besides Cooper's heroics, the balanced offensive effort saw four other players in double figures, led by junior guard Skyelar Potter with 14. Freshman guard Drew Thelwell set career-highs in points (13), assists (4) and three-pointers made with a trio.
Other Eagle career-high efforts included grad transfer guard Tray Hollowell with 13 points (on a career-best five triples) and junior guard Jake Wolfe with 12 points. Junior guard Tucson Redding came off the bench for a career-best eight points, and second-year freshman Johni Broome blocked a career-best six shots while also grabbing 10 rebounds.
The Eagles shot 53 percent for the night (30-of-57) and dished out 26 assists on their 30 made buckets. They also limited the Pioneers to just 33 percent from the floor (19-of-57). MSU also had a rebound advantage of 38-29, the 28th team the Eagles have grabbed more rebounds against in the previous two seasons.
MSU shot out to a 22-5 lead at the 10:11 mark of the first half, thanks to six three-balls in the first 10 minutes. The Eagles led 32-12 with 6:20 left in the first half but then saw Transy go on a 14-0 run to cut the deficit to just 32-26.
Leading 35-28 at the halftime break, the home team raced out to a 50-31 lead early in the second half via a 15-3 to open the final 20 minutes. MSU went on to push its margin to as much as 33.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 96, ROCKFORD 64
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Behind the strong play of Sammy Friday IV in the opening minutes, Eastern Illinois offense was firing on all cylinders on Thursday night as the Panthers beat Rockford University, 96-64, for the first EIU win for first-year head coach Marty Simmons.
Friday was 9-of-11 from the floor with seven rebounds as he finished with 21 points, one of six Panthers in double figures in the game. Friday collected 13 of his game-high total in the opening half as EIU shot 69 percent from the floor.
The Panthers would continue to shoot the ball well throughout the duration of the game finishing at 63 percent for the night.
Henry Abraham had 12 of his 15 points in the opening half as he knocked down 3-of-4 from 3-point range in the game. EIU was 6-of-15 as a team from beyond the arc.
The Panthers built a 46-30 halftime lead as Rockford was able to hit some outside shots early in the contest. Brandon Emerick hit two of his three 3-pointers in the opening half finishing with nine points. TJ Lacey was the Regents leading scorer with 16 points. DJ Bonds added 15 and Zac Centers 11. Bonds and Centers each sank three 3-pointers as Rockford was 12-of-32 from long range in the game.
Rodolfo Bolis just missed a double-double with 14 points and nine rebounds. EIU’s other two starters in the game also reached double figures with CJ Lane scoring 11 and Kejuan Clements 12.
Jermaine Hamlin scored nine points in the second half to finish with 12 points. He added three blocks to his OVC leading total as he now has 14 blocks on the year.
EIU improved to 1-3 on the season. Rockford is 3-1.