Image via Tennessee State Athletics
Behind early efficient shooting and solid work on the boards, Tennessee State was able to build a double-digit lead against Chattanooga before weathering a comeback attempt from the Mocs and hanging on to defeat their opponents in a wire-to-wire fashion, 70-64.
TSU jumped out to an early 7-point lead before Teddy Washington Jr’s layup finally got the Mocs on the scoreboard at 7-2 at the 15:51 mark. Shooting 51% (16-31) for the half, as compared to Chattanooga’s 37.9% (11-29), the Tigers were able to build as much as a 16-point advantage on Dante Harris’ layup with 1:52 remaining in the half. A 6-1 spurt from Chattanooga would trim the lead to 42-33 at the half.
In the second half, TSU enjoyed an 11-point lead on four occasions- 46-35, 48-37, 53-42, and 55-44. Chattanooga sliced the lead to 55-52 on three pointers from Brennan Watkins and Tate Darner. A three-point play from Aaron Nkrumah and a layup from Harris extended the Tennessee State lead to 60-52 with 5:14 remaining in the contest. The Mocs, continuing to battle pared the lead to a basket at 60-58 with just 2:32 left in the game. Baskets from Carlous Williams and Dante Harris , pushed the Tigers’ advantage to 64-58 with under a minute to go.
Washington Jr and Darner’s knocking down shots from downtown brought the Mocs within a bucket at 66-64. However, the Tigers beat the Mocs’ press on the subsequent inbounds, leading to an alley-oop and slam from Nkrumah to Travis Harper II that has TSU a 68-64 lead with just 0:21 remaining in the contest.
After collecting the Tigers corralled an errant Chattanooga three-point attempt, a pair of free throws from Jalen Pitre sealed the win, and a 2-0 weekend at the Coke Classic for Tennessee State.
Travis Harper II and Aaron Nkrumah led the way with 17 points apiece; Dante Harris was the other Tiger double figures, with 15 points.
Tennessee State (5-3, 0-0) now winners of three straight, hit the road once again, this time heading to Huntsville, Alabama to take on Alabama A&M, December 3; tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 PM CST. The Tigers defeated the Bulldogs 81-71 in their meeting last season.
