THURSDAY'S SCORES
@ETSU 84,
Little Rock 76
@Southern Illinois 57,
Tennessee State 44
Coppin State 90,
@Tennessee Tech 85 (OT)
ETSU 84, LITTLE ROCK 76
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. - Little Rock raced out to a quick start in Johnson City, but extended East Tennessee State runs put the Trojans in a hole it couldn't claw out of as a late rally comes up short in an 84-76 loss at Freedom Hall Thursday night.
Little Rock had three players finish in double figures, led by 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting off the bench for Jordan Jefferson, knocking down three key three pointers. DeAntoni Gordon had 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting in just 20 minutes while Ethan Speaker added a career-high 11 points in 20 minutes off the bench.
D.J. Smith and Myron Gardner both finished with nine points as Gardner added a team-high eight rebounds and seven assists while Chris Walker finished with eight points off the bench.
For the game, Little Rock shot 46.8%, making 29-of-62 shots, including 9-of-24 from three point range (37.5%). But one of the keys to this game came down to the foul and free throw discrepancy as Little Rock was whistled for 29 fouls, resulting in 42 East Tennessee State free throws and four Trojans fouling out, while the Trojans shot just 13 from the charity stripe as the Bucs were whistled for just 14 personal fouls.
East Tennessee shot 51.8% from the floor, making 29-of-56 attempts, but were just 21-of-42 from the charity stripe, helping the Trojans remain within striking distance. The Trojans forced 16 Buccaneer turnovers, resulting in a 22-17 edge in points off turnovers. East Tennessee State outrebounded Little Rock 41-33, including a 14-8 edge in offensive boards.
After a pair of sluggish starts, Little Rock raced out to its best start of the season early against East Tennessee State, knocking down eight of its first 10 shots to race out to an early 18-8 lead through the first six and a half minutes paced by five from Gardner. But the Buccaneers found their scoring touch, using a 14-0 run and benefiting from four Little Rock turnovers to take a 22-18 advantage at the 11:03 mark.
The Trojans and Bucs battled back and forth over the next six minutes as the teams combined for five lead changes with a layup and three on back-to-back possessions for Speaker giving the Trojans the two point advantage at 29-27 with 5:44 remaining in the opening half.
But ETSU responded with a 15-0 run to take a 13-point lead of its own, extending the lead to 42-29 with just under two minutes remaining in the opening half. Jefferson hit a long three with 35 seconds remaining to cut the deficit to 10 at 42-32, then Smith drained a three at the buzzer to end the half on a 6-0 run and cut the halftime hole to 42-35.
Little Rock shot 48.3% over the opening 20 minutes, including 5-of-11 from three point range, led by seven points from Speaker. Gordon and Smith each added six but saw the Bucs shoot 53.3% in the first half, including 5-of-10 from three point range.
After exchanging baskets early in the second half, East Tennessee State used a 7-0 run to build a 14-point lead at 53-39 at the 14:50 mark. The Buccaneers led by as many as 15 at 60-45 before the Trojans were able to get to within 10 at 62-52 at the midway point behind a three from Walker.
Jefferson provided another spark off the bench for the Trojans, scoring eight-straight for Little Rock on back-to-back threes along with a steal in the backcourt, getting the Trojans within eight at 70-62 with 6:14 remaining. After the Bucs went back on top by 11 at 75-64, Little Rock as able to pull to within seven at 78-71 off a floater in the lane by Jefferson.
Down 80-73 with under a minute to go, Smith converted a three on a fast break to get the Trojans to within four at 80-76 with 48 seconds remaining. But the deficit was too much to overcome as the Buccaneers held off the late Trojan rally to hand Little Rock the eight-point loss.
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 57, TENNESSEE STATE 44
CARBONDALE, Ill. - The Tennessee State men's basketball team kept Southern Illinois to just 14.3 percent from 3-point range in a 3-for-21 shooting performance, but fell 57-44 to the Salukis on the road Thursday.
The Tigers (3-1) had two players score in double figures, led by Jr. Clay, who had 12 points and three steals. Dedric Boyd added 10 points off of the bench and Adong Makuoi added five points and four blocks.
The Tennessee State defense held Southern Illinois shooters to only 36.2 percent from the field, including 14.3 percent from three-point range. The Salukis did not get many second opportunities on the offensive end, as they grabbed only five offensive rebounds and scored zero second-chance points while Tennessee State pulled down 26 defensive rebounds.
After falling behind 25-12, Tennessee State went on a 12-0 run with 9:17 left in the first half, culminating in a bucket from Makuoi, to narrow its deficit to 25-24. Southern Illinois answered back and added to its lead, leaving the Tigers down 36-27 entering halftime.
Tennessee State could not pull any closer in the second half, losing by a final of 57-44. Tennessee State took care of business in the paint, recording 10 of its 17 points in the lane.
COPPIN STATE 90, TENNESSEE TECH 85 (OT)
COOKEVILLE, Tenn.- – In a see-saw affair that was so good, it needed an extra five minutes to determine a winner, the Tennessee Tech men's basketball team dropped a heartbreaker to visiting Coppin State Thursday evening, falling to the Eagles in overtime, 90-85, in the Eblen Center.
Marking the second of two games for the Golden Eagles in the Herd Run Hoops Jam presented by Tarkett Sports multi-team event, the contest saw a whopping 25 lead changes and 17 ties with neither side boasting a double-digit lead at any point.
In the first-ever tilt between the two programs, it was Coppin State that came out swinging early, pushing out front by as much as nine points with 5:33 to play in the opening stanza. Tech patiently responded, using a 14-3 run to close the first half for a 33-31 advantage heading into the locker room.
The second half featured a similar mold to the first, with the visiting Eagles edging their way back out to a nine-point advantage at 63-54 with just under eight minutes to play in regulation. Following a media timeout, the purple and gold began to once again push its way back into the contest, eventually squaring things at 64 with just under four minutes of action to go.
CSU's Nendah Tarke drilled a huge three with 47 seconds to play to push his team back on top at 73-70, but Tech continued to fight. Graduate guard Ty Perry hit a free throw to pull the Golden Eagles back to within two before junior guard Brett Thompson entered back into the contest and delivered one of the key plays of the night.
The Oakland, Calif. native drew an offensive foul against the Eagles' Sam Sessoms with 24 ticks on the clock, providing the purple and gold one more opportunity with the ball. It paid off as Thompson found junior forward Daniel Ramsey in the post for a game-tying layup with 11 seconds to go. Sessoms missed a last-second, step-back jumper from just outside the paint to send the ball game to an extra session.
An explosive start for the Golden Eagles in overtime couldn't hold up to the lights-out shooting of Coppin State, as Thompson buried a triple with just over two minutes to play to extend the Tech lead to four. From there, the offense went cold while CSU was nearly perfect in the extra period.
The Eagles sunk 5-of-6 tries from the field, including a 2-for-2 mark from downtown and 5-for-5 showing at the charity stripe, to end the night on an 8-0 run and walk out of the gym with a 90-85 victory.
Sessoms led all scorers in the contest with 24 points and 10 assists, chipping in five boards as well. Tarke finished with 16 points and nine rebounds while Justin Winston added 15 points to the CSU effort.
Pacing the Golden Eagles was graduate forward Jaylen Sebree, dropping a career-high 22 points on 50 percent shooting. He just missed a double-double with a team-high nine boards and finished the evening 7-of-8 from the charity stripe. Perry tacked on a season-best 17 points with five dimes and four rebounds.
Ramsey put forth a solid effort, firing at a 60 percent clip from the floor on his way to 14 points and seven boards. Junior guard Erik Oliver also produced 14 points, tying Perry for the team lead with five helpers. Thompson rounded out the starting lineup, who combined for 80 of Tech's 85 points, scoring 13 with four dimes and a pair of steals.
For their efforts at both the Marshall contest on Monday and the tilt with Coppin State, both Sebree and Perry collected All-Tournament honors for the Herd Run Hoops Jam presented by Tarkett Sports MTE.