BOX SCORE

Final Score: TSU 74, BU 92
Records: TSU (5-13, 2-4 OVC), BU (13-4, 4-2)
Venue: Curb Event Center
Location: Nashville, Tenn.
Attendance: 2,768

NASHVILLE --- Head Coach Brian "Penny" Collins' returned to his alma mater, Belmont, to take on his former head coach Rick Byrd, Saturday night in the Curb Event Center.  Collins and the Tennessee State men's basketball team fell to the Bruins 92-74.

Junior-college transfer Michael Littlejohn led the Tigers in scoring for the first time of the season with a career-high 19 points versus the Bruins. The Muskegon, Mich. native shot 7-of-14 from the field, 4-of-8 from three-point distance and made his sole free throw. Littlejohn added four rebounds to the team's total 37, and a steal.

The Tigers entered halftime down 12, 43-31. Belmont returned from the break missing just six shots from the field (17-of23), hoisting the team to its second-straight win in the series versus TSU.

TSU (5-14, 2-4 OVC) return to action Thursday, Jan. 24 at Austin Peay.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• TSU Leaders
  • Points: Michael Littlejohn – 19
  • Rebounds: Emmanuel Egbuta and Donte Fitzpatrick-Dorsey - 8
  • Assists: Stokley Chaffee, Jr. - 3
  • Steals: Tripp Davis - 3
  • Blocks: Stokley Chaffee, Emmanuel Egbuta, Donte Fitzpatrick-Dorsey - 1
• Donte Fitzpatrick-Dorsey's (DFD) effort on the board earned him a season-high tying eight rebounds.
• The Tigers summed 54 bench points, 28 points in the paint and 18 points off of Belmont's 13 turnovers. 
• Dylan Windler dropped seven from three-point distance. Four other Bruins scored double-digits. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Tripp Davis for three from the corner to put TSU on the board.
• Belmont up 12-3, after an 8-0 run.
• The Tigers capitalized off of Belmont turnovers in the paint.
• TSU closed the nine-point gap to two, 16-14 with 12 minutes left in the half.
• Three-point play from Kamar McKnight cut the lead to four.
• Under a minute, TSU down by 14, Belmont 6-0 for last 0:54 of the period.
• 43-31 at the half. Armani Chaney draws a foul and heads to the line for two, making both before the first period clock expired.
• TSU hit 4-of-6 to start the half.
• DaJion Henderson had the ball down low in the paint but kicked it out to Donte Fitzpatrick-Dorsey for a wide-open three.
• With six minutes left in the half, TSU had scored 36 points, just one short of BU's 37.
• Belmont's shooting accuracy in the second period helped to hoist them to a 92-74 lead as time expired.

GAME NOTES

• TSU is now 13-19 in the all-time series against Belmont, 3-9 away from home.
• The game was a homecoming for Collins, as he played under coach Rick Byrd from 2002-06, and led Belmont to the 2006 NCAA Tournament.

#BigBlueRising