TUESDAY'S SCORES
Chattanooga 82,
@Tennessee Tech 65
SIUE 75, @Omaha 65
CHATTANOOGA 82, TENNESSEE TECH 65
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - It was a tale of two halves for the Tennessee Tech men's basketball team Tuesday evening, as the Golden Eagles fell to in-state rival Chattanooga in the Hooper Eblen Center, 82-65, in a rematch from Nov. 16.
The purple and gold came out firing on all cylinders to start the contest, kicking things off on a 10-2 run and taking as large as a 13-point lead at 28-15 with 8:32 to play in the opening stanza. The Mocs closed the gap towards the end of the first period, hitting a bucket with under five seconds to play to make it a 41-35 advantage in favor of the home team.
Chattanooga really turned up the intensity in the second half, hitting back-to-back treys on its first two possessions to tie the game. The Mocs went on to shoot 60 percent from the floor over the final 20 minutes of regulation, taking advantage of an ice-cold stretch from the Golden Eagles to open the half.
Tech hit just one of its first 12 attempts from the field coming out of the break and the visitors pounced. With the offensive struggles, Chattanooga produced a 21-2 run, taking a 13-point lead seven minutes into the half.
Junior Amadou Sylla led the Golden Eagles with 12 points and five rebounds on the night, adding a pair of blocks to the mix. Kenny White Jr. chipped in a season-high 11 points on 5-for-7 shooting with three boards. Jr. Clay contributed 10 points and six assists as well.
SIUE 75, OMAHA 65
OMAHA, Neb. - SIUE used a torrid start and strong first half to propel itself to a 75-65 win over Omaha Tuesday night at Baxter Arena. The Cougars never trailed on their way to their second road win of the season.
SIUE improved to 3-5 overall. Omaha fell to 1-6.
The Cougars scored the first nine points and were up by 20 (25-5) after a three-pointer by Ray'Sean Taylor with 13:23 to play before halftime. A layup by Shaun Doss, Jr. with 4:09 to play in the half gave SIUE its largest lead at 47-16. The Cougars led 49-24 at the break, giving them their largest halftime lead of the year and the most points they had scored in a half.
SIUE connected on 57 percent (30-35) of its shots in the first period. Lamar Wright knocked down seven of nine shots, including his first career three-pointer, and had 18 points at the break. He finished with a game-high and career-best 20 points.
The Mavericks turned the table in the second half, hitting 11 of 22 attempts from the field to forge a furious comeback.
The Cougars again pushed their lead out to 31 points (60-29) on a pair of free throws from Shamar Wright with 16:56 to play. It was 62-33 when Omaha made its move. The Mavs scored the next 21 points and the Cougars missed 13 consecutive field goal attempts over the next eight-plus minutes in the game
The Cougars used a 7-0 run to take their lead back to 15 points with 5:16 remaining, but Omaha answered with a 9-0 run of its own to trim the lead to 69-63 with 2:53 to play.
The Cougars finished the game with a 6-2 run.
Lamar Wright led four SIUE players in double figures. He was 8 for 13 from the field and added five rebounds and five blocked shots.
Doss scored 15 points and Taylor and Shamar Wright each scored 13 points. Taylor finished with nine rebounds.