Nashville, Tenn. – The Tennessee State men's basketball team got 31 points from Robert Covington and defeated Lemoyne-Owen College, 79-39, on Sunday.

Covington added 11 rebounds to go along with his career-high in points for his third double-double of the season.

Kellen Thornton was the only other Tiger in double figures, scoring 17 in the game. However, Patrick Miller also had a nice game, recording seven points, seven rebounds, eight assists and a steal.

Thornton got the TSU offense going with a layup to start the game and Covington canned a trio of threes to make the score 11-4 in favor of the Tigers.

Covington had 11 of TSU's first 13 points and ended the first half with a team-high 15.

TSU continued to roll in the first half as a 12-2 run highlighted by a three-pointer by Miller at the 11:12 mark propelled the home side to a 23-6 lead.

Lemoyne-Owen ended the half on a 15-9 run, but the Tigers still led 32-21 at halftime.

Tennessee State led by as many as 19 in the first stanza and shot 50 percent (5-of-10) from three-point land.

The TSU defense forced seven turnovers during the opening frame and allowed the Magicians to shoot just 31 percent (9-29) from the field. Lemoyne-Owen was also 1-of-10 from behind the arc.

Much like in the first, Thornton jump-started his team's offense in the second half with an easy lay-in. He added a jumper at the 18:12 mark and an old-fashioned three-point play with just over 15 minutes to go, allowing the Tigers to go up 43-23.

Later in the half, a pretty pass from Miller allowed Covington to slam home a one-handed dunk, putting the Tigers up by 26.

The Tigers closed the game on a 18-5 run, and recorded their most lopsided win since the 1997-98 season.

Tennessee State (5-6) only allowed 18 second-half points and at one point, led by 43 points.

TSU shot 48.1 percent (26-of-54) in the game and outrebounded the Magicians 50-31.

The Tigers will next travel to Murfreesboro on Tuesday Dec. 18 for a match against in-state rival, Middle Tennessee State.

--TSU Tigers--