TUESDAY'S SCORES
@Tennessee State 98, Brescia 83
@Tennessee Tech 104, Kentucky Christian 72
@Purdue Fort Wayne 83,
Southern Indiana 59
@Little Rock 75, Central Arkansas 66
@BYU 90,
Lindenwood 61
TENNESSEE STATE 98, BRESCIA 83
NASHVILLE - Marcus Fitzgerald Jr. scored 30 points to help lead the Tennessee State men's basketball team past the Brescia Bearcats 98-83 at home Tuesday.
The Tigers (8-5) had four players score in double figures, led by Fitzgerald Jr., who had 30 points and nine rebounds. Adong Makuoi added a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds and Justin Williams helped out with 16 points and two steals.
Led by Makuoi's five offensive rebounds, Tennessee State did a great job crashing the offensive glass, pulling down 13 boards that resulted in 13 second-chance points.
Tennessee State did a great job disrupting Brescia's shots in the contest, coming away with five blocks. Makuoi's two rejections led the way individually for the Tigers.
After falling behind 37-31, Tennessee State went on an 11-0 run with 5:25 left in the first half to take a 42-37 lead. The Tigers then maintained that lead and entered halftime with a 55-50 advantage. Tennessee State got out and ran in the period, scoring 15 points on the break.
Tennessee State kept its lead intact before going on an 8-0 run, finished off by Williams' three, to grow the lead to 67-56 with 15:11 to go in the contest. The Tigers kept expanding the margin and coasted the rest of the way for the 98-83 win. Tennessee State got a boost from its bench in the period, as non-starters accounted for 13 of its 43 total points.
TENNESSEE TECH 104, KENTUCKY CHRISTIAN 72
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - The Tennessee Tech men's basketball team cruised to a monster victory over Kentucky Christian Tuesday evening in the Hooper Eblen Center, picking up a 104-72 win in the team's final non-conference action of the season.
Despite a sluggish start, the short-handed Golden Eagles locked in down the stretch of the first half, closing the opening stanza on a whopping 26-7 run for a 60-41 lead at the break. The purple and gold saw five of its 16 student-athletes out of action for the night, including four of the season opener's five starters, but the 11 who played all contributed to the team win.
Tech scored 100 or more points for the first time since defeating Montreat College, 117-60, last December and hauled in 55 rebounds, the most for a TTU squad since snagging 57 earlier this season against Tennessee Wesleyan.
For the first time since defeating Southeast Missouri, 98-94, last February, Tech saw six players score in double figures, led by local Celina native Grant Strong and his career-high 22 points. The freshman guard was extremely efficient across the board, finishing 9-for-12 from the floor and 4-for-4 from the charity stripe while accounting for career-best six assists, as well as five rebounds and two steals.
Joining the double-digit action with his team-leading third double-double of the season was graduate forward Jaylen Sebree. The Hopkinsville, Ky. native stuffed the stat sheet to the tune of 16 points, 10 rebounds, six assists, and three steals in just over 23 minutes of action.
Combining with Sebree to become the first Tech teammates with a double-double in the same game since Nov. 10, 2019 against Martin Methodist was sophomore guard Grant Slatten. Picking up the first double-double of s career, the local Sparta native posted 10 points and five assists to go along with a career-high 15 rebounds. He also became the first Golden Eagle to haul in at least 15 boards since Courtney Alexander II snagged 16 against ULM on Nov. 23, 2018.
Junior guard Erik Oliver chipped in 13 points with four boards and three assists while junior center Nolan Causwell tied his career-high scoring output with 12 points and five rebounds. Rounding out the double-digit club for the purple and gold was sophomore guard Walter Peggs Jr. The former Tech manager and current walk-on set a new career-high with 10 points on 4-for-7 shooting.
Narrowly missing out on the group, graduate guard Ty Perry chimed in with nine points while battling first-half foul trouble. Sophomore guard Bogdan Zimonjic tacked on seven points, including a massive dunk that also drew a foul, and three steals
PURDUE FORT WAYNE 83, SOUTHERN INDIANA 59
FORT WAYNE, Ind. - University of Southern Indiana Men's Basketball offense was stymied by Purdue University Ft. Wayne, 83-59, to conclude the Indiana Classic Tuesday at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. The Eagles finish non-conference action with a 7-6 mark after tonight's action, while the Mastodons are 9-4.
USI was cold from the field in the first 20 minutes, while Ft. Wayne had the hot hand. The Mastodons led by 19 at the intermission, 44-25, after shooting 54.8 percent from the field (17-31) and dropped in 10 three-point field goals.
The Eagles was cold in the opening half, hitting just 35.7 percent from the field (10-28) despite the 12-point contribution by sophomore guard Isaiah Swope (Newburgh, Indiana).
In second half, the Mastodon defense continued to thwart the USI offense, holding the Eagles to 35.3 percent (12-34), and go on to post the 83-59 final.
Individually for USI, Swope finished with a team-high 17 points to lead the Eagles in double-digits. The sophomore guard was seven-of-12 from the field, three-of-five from beyond the arc, for his 17 points.
Senior guard Jelani Simmons (Columbus, Ohio) followed with 14 points on five-of-12 from the field, three-of-seven from long range, and one-of-two from the stripe. Graduate forward Trevor Lakes (Lebanon, Indiana) rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points on three three-pointers and two free throws.
LITTLE ROCK 75, CENTRAL ARKANSAS 66
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Five Trojans finished in double figures, led by double-doubles from Myron Gardner and DeAntoni Gordon, as the Trojans used a 13-0 run in the first half to take a halftime advantage before keeping Central Arkansas at bay in the second for a 75-66 victory at the Jack Stephens Center.
With the win, the Trojans improve to 4-8 on the year and remain unbeaten at home, sitting at 4-0 at the Jack Stephens Center this season. The Trojans also improved to 11-1 against Central Arkansas at home since making the move to Division I.
Gardner finished with 17 points, 13 rebounds and six assists tonight, registering his Ohio Valley Conference-best sixth double-double of the season. Gardner was 4-of-10 from the floor and 7-of-8 at the line, including 5-for-5 from the second half to help Little Rock pull away.
Gordon registered his second double-double of the year with 12 points and 10 rebounds, including four boards in the second half as The Trojans held a 46-36 rebounding edge on the Bears.
Jordan Jefferson matched Gordon with 12 points, shooting 4-of-8 from the field, with D.J. Smith adding 11 points and CJ White adding 10 points with six rebounds, knocking down three big three pointers.
Little Rock shot just 38.1% from the floor (24-of-63), but held Central Arkansas to 37.7% (23-of-61) and just 7-of-23 from three point range (30.4%). But Little Rock was solid from the line all night, going 19-of-24 from the charity stripe (79.2%), including 14-of-16 over the final 20 minutes.
In addition to the rebounding edge, the Trojans pulled down 15 offensive boards, leading to a 14-6 edge in second chance points and outscored UCA 16-8 on the break. Both teams committed just 12 turnovers as Gardner led both teams with a pair of steals.
Once again, Little Rock found itself in an early hole as Central Arkansas reeled off the first seven points in the first two minutes to build the early 7-0 lead. The Trojans would respond with a 6-0 run of its own, however pulling to within one at 7-6 through the first three and a half minutes.
UCA slowly extended its lead back to six at 17-11 at the 9:23 mark as Little Rock went without a field goal for over six minutes. But the Trojans then rattled off their largest scoring run of the season, going on a 13-0 streak to build a 24-17 lead with 5:02 remaining as four different Trojans scored during the run.
The Trojans and Bears exchanged baskets over the final five minutes as Little Rock took a 32-27 lead into the halftime break. Gordon led all scorers over the first 20 minutes with 10 points while Gardner added seven points, nine rebounds and five assists. Little Rock shot 33.3% in the first half while Central Arkansas shot 35.7% as both teams were 3-of-11 from three point range.
UCA came out quick in the second half with a 10-4 run, eight of which came from Collin Cooper, regaining the lead at 37-36 with 17:33 to play. But five-straight for Jefferson sparked a 7-0 run for Little Rock, pulling back in front by six at 43-37 at the 16:10 mark.
Little Rock and Central Arkansas exchanged baskets for the next eight minutes with some key threes from Gardner and White helping the Trojans extend their lead to 10 at 57-47 with 8:27 remaining.
Central Arkansas chipped away at the lead, getting to within three at 63-60, and again at 65-62 with 3:30 remaining. But a three pointer from Smith at the 1:56 mark put the Trojans on top 68-62, then Little Rock came up big defensively and knocked down seven of its last eight free throw attempts to secure the home victory.
Gardner finished with 10 in the second half while Smith added nine as the Trojans shot 44.7%, knocking down 5-of-14 from three point range (35.7%) and 14-of-16 from the line (87.5%) to help keep the Bears at bay.
BYU 90, LINDENWOOD 61
PROVO, Utah - The Lindenwood men's basketball team (5-7) lost 90-61 to BYU (9-5) on Tuesday night in Provo, Utah.
Cam Burrell was hot to start the night, as he scored the first eight points for the Lions for an 8-5 lead at the 17:46 mark. The two teams played tight through the first 10 minutes, as a three pointer by Chris Childs made it 19-19 with 10:48 to play in the opening half. Lindenwood struggled to get the shots to fall down the stretch, as the Cougars took a 39-25 lead into the break.
BYU came out in the second half and efficiently scored points, but the Lions started to knock down the long-range shot. In the first four minutes, Burrell hit two from downtown, while Childs tallied one to make it 53-34. BYU built up a significant lead and didn't look back in the 90-61 win over the Lions.
Burrell finished the night with 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field, including 4-of-6 from behind the arc. Burrell added a pair of steals and one block on the defensive end, while pulling down three rebounds in the game. Childs collected 17 points to lead the team, as he also dished out two assists and tallied two steals.