title image via Tennessee State Athletics
Spurred on by 37 points from their bench, the Tigers of Tennessee State handily defeated Eastern Illinois 84-65 Saturday evening at the Gentry Center.
Eastern Illinois built an early 12-9 lead on Kooper Jacobi’s three-pointer at the 14:06 mark. TSU proceeded to go on an 11-0 run punctuated by Antoine Lorick III’s layup that made the score 20-12. Eastern Illinois quickly fell behind by double figures at 24-14 on Brandon Weston’s slam dunk. The Panthers trimmed the lead to single digits briefly when a pair of Artese Stapleton free throws brought the score to 27-18 at the 7:40 mark of th half. Carlous Williams’ jumper pushed the Tigers’ lead to 29-18. Tennessee State built as much as a 15-point lead on two separate occasions – at 36-21 on a throw-down from Williams and again at 38-23 on another Williams bucket.
Eastern was able to whittle three points off the TSU lead but still faced a 40-28 deficit heading into halftime.
For the first four and a half minutes of the second Eastern Illinois was able to keep the lead 14 points or less. However, Tennessee State was able to extend the lead to 54-36. Tennessee State continued to add to their lead, building as much as a 25-point advantage at 81-56 as they would cruise to a comfortable 84-65 victory.
Brandon Weston led four Tennessee State players in double figures with 20 points. Carlous Williams contributed 15 points, Antoine Lorick III added 11 points and 8 rebounds, and Ronald Jessamy chipped in 10 points.
Zion Fruster led Eastern Illinois with 18 points; Kooper Jacobi and Artese Stapleton added 14 points each.
Up next for Tennessee State (7-12, 3-5) is a home meeting with UT Martin on January 21; tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 pm CST.
