Courtesy of Tennessee State Athletics:
NASHVILLE – The Tennessee State men’s basketball team secured their first OVC victory on Saturday afternoon against Southeast Missouri, 95-84.
FIRST HALF: Marcus Fitzgerald Jr. drained a three-pointer on the game’s first possession. TSU grabbed the initial momentum with a 9-4 run to open the game, as Shakem Johnson‘s registered four of the nine points. With less than two minutes remaining, Emmanuel Dowuona contributed four points to an 8-0 scoring stretch to give TSU their largest lead of the half, 38-25. Fitzgerald Jr. led the team with 11 points and two assists in 18 minutes of action. The Tigers shot 59.3% (16-for-27) from the field in the opening stanza. || TSU, 42-30
SECOND HALF: Tennessee State carried the momentum out of halftime with a 9-4 scoring stretch to acquire their largest lead of the game, 51-35. Carlos Marshall Jr. tallied four straight points for TSU to open the half. SEMO battled back to cut the deficit to 10 points, 59-49, after six straight points by Phillip Russell. Midway through the half, the Tigers went on a 10-3 run to extend the advantage to 75-56. The Redhawks went on a 12-3 run, bringing the TSU lead to single digits with 1:50 remaining. Tennessee State sealed the game with a handful of free-throws. || TSU, 95-84
INSIDE THE STATS:
- Marcus Fitzgerald Jr. led TSU with 23 points, a season-high for the second-year freshman.
- Shakem Johnson tied his season-high with 16 points, while he added four rebounds and three blocks.
- Carlos Marshall Jr. scored 18 points on 5-of-11 from the field, including 7-of-9 at the free-throw line.
- Tajik Bartholomew tallied a career-high with five points in eight minutes.
- Five Tigers registered double-digit scoring in the 11-point victory.
- Tennessee State shot 60.9% from the field, the second-best percentage this year (Fisk, 63.3%).
BEYOND THE BOX:
- Carlos Marshall Jr. has registered at least 18 points in three consecutive games.
- Marcus Fitzgerald Jr. recorded double-figures in scoring for the sixth straight game.
- Johnson‘s logged three blocks in back-to-back games for TSU.
UP NEXT: Tennessee State will hit the road for a conference battle at Murray State on Thursday, January 13, with tip-off scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
