It was not always pretty, but the Tigers of Tennessee State, picked up their play in the second half, defeating Eastern Illinois 77-68 on Thursday night, bouncing back from the loss to Tennessee Tech earlier in the week.
Eastern took an early 2-0 lead on Terry McMorris’ layup on the game’s opening possession. TSU then tied and took a 4-2 lead on layups from Aaron Nkrumah and Antoine Lorick III. The game tied again at 10 on Kooper Jacobi’s layup at the 12:23 mark. The Panthers once again tied the game at 17 apiece but were unable to hold the point, as the Tigers scored again to reclaim the lead.
As was the case in their last game, against Tennessee Tech, the Tigers were seduced by taking quick shots and hero ball, leading them to clank 11 of their first 17 shots. Despite this semi-malaise their offense was in, Tennessee State managed to hold on to the lead, aided by the 9 turnovers they forced, which they converted into 11 points.
The Tigers took a 33-30 lead into halftime.
TSU built a 42-25 lead on a pair of Nkrumah free throws at the 17:30 mark. The Panthers went on an 11-0 run over the next 4:30 to take a 45-42 lead. Khalil London’s pull-up J put the Tigers back in front 46-45, but EIU reclaimed the lead at 48-46 on Markus Blackwell’s shot from downtown. The teams exchanged the lead three times, with the last coming on an Antoine Lorick III jumper that pushed the Tgers back in front, 52-51 with 8:18 remaining. Eastern drew to within 55-54, but they were unable to reclaim the lead, as Tennessee State built their advantage to as much as 74-63 late in the contest, going on to claim a 77-68 victory.
Antoine Lorick led all Tigers scorers with a season-high 24 points. Aaron Nkrumah was the other TSU player in double figures with 23 points
The win lifts the Tigers to 15-8 overall and 9-4 within OVC play, trailing only UT Martin in the conference standings. Tennessee State returns Saturday at 3:30 p.m. CST when they host Western Illinois. TSU put it on the Leathernecks to the tune of a 90-68 thrashing on January 8.
