NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Sophomore Alex Davis scored a career-high 21
points and 10 different players were in on the scoring as the
Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles shot their way to an 86-78 Ohio Valley
Conference victory at Tennessee State Saturday night in the Gentry
Center.
The Golden Eagles shot 55.9 percent for the game, including
11-for-20 (55 percent) from long range. In addition to Davis, Tech
also got double-digit points from Daniel Northern with 16 and Frank
Davis with 11.
With the win, the Golden Eagles (10-9/5-4 OVC) moved into a
three-way tie for sixth place in the league, just one game out of
fourth place in a tight race. Tech is tied with Tennessee State
(6-13/4-5 OVC) and Eastern Kentucky.
The Golden Eagles play at Eastern Illinois next Thursday night, one
of the two teams tied for fourth place, followed by a game Saturday
night at Southeast Missouri.
Gerald Robinson paced TSU with 21 points and eight assists, while
Parker Smith hit 6-for-9 from 3-point range on his way to 19
points. Jerrell Houston had 14 points and eight rebounds.
Tech rebounded from a tough loss Thursday at Austin Peay to control
the game nearly wire-to-wire. The host Tigers held a two-point lead
at 4-2, and again at 8-6, but that was all. The game was tied five
times in the first half, the last coming at 20-20 at the 7:37
mark.
Davis hit a 3-pointer, and DJ Lindsay followed with a layup and the
Golden Eagles grabbed a five-point lead. Tech was on top by three,
37-34, at halftime.
The Golden Eagles shot 62 percent in the second half and pushed
their lead into double figures four times, with the largest margin
midway through the half being 12 points. Tech led by 10 points,
64-54, with 7:13 to play when the Tigers made things interesting
with a 6-0 run. A layup by Robinson with 6:16 to go pulled TSU to
within four, 64-60, but Alex Davis hit another 3-pointer for some
breathing room.
Down by nine, 71-66 the Tigers scored another 6-0 run to make it a
three-point game, 71-68, with 2:46 remaining on a 3-pointer by
Smith. With 2:08 remaining, Will Barnes fired up a 3-pointer before
the shot clock expired and it rattled around and went through for a
74-68 lead.
That was the basket that allowed Tech to shake away and the Golden
Eagles rebuilt a double-digit lead. The largest margin of the game
came in the final half minute when Tech went up by 14 points before
settling for the final eight-point win.
Senior Zac Walker didn't score a point, but he played a key role in
the win. Making only the second start of his career, Walker had two
rebounds, two assists and a steal, and played solid in-your-face
defense. While he was on the floor for a career-high 16 minutes, he
held Smith, TSU's long distance shooter, scoreless.
Tech shoots well, downs TSU 86-78 as Alex Davis drains 21
Jan 24, 2009