CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Tennessee State men's basketball team secured their third-straight victory in the final minute against Charleston Southern.
FIRST HALF: Charleston Southern began the scoring with a three-pointer from Tahlik Chavez as the shot-clock expired. CSU scored the initial five points of the game, before
Kassim Nicholson tallied a free-throw for TSU's first point. The Buccaneers raced out to 15-5 lead;
Marcus Fitzgerald Jr. put a halt to the run with six points of his own. In his first action of the season,
Monty Johal forced a turnover in his first possession on the court. TSU fought back at the end of the half, posting an 8-2 run.
Dedric Boyd made his first start of the season.
Boyd, a transfer from Illinois State, led the Tigers with seven points and tallied four rebounds. ||
CSU, 41-34
SECOND HALF: Tennessee State opened the half with a 7-2 scoring stretch to chip away at the Buccaneers' lead. Midway through the half,
Boyd recorded 16 of 20 points for the Tigers. With 10:20 remaining, the redshirt-junior drained three consecutive three-pointers which gave TSU their first lead of the game. Trailing by three with 2:46 left,
Fitzgerald Jr. drained a game-tying long-range jumper. Charleston Southern scored their own three-pointer to take the lead. With 1:11 on the clock,
Emmanuel Dowuona cut the deficit to one with a layup. On the following possession,
Kenny Cooper swiped a steal and registered the go-ahead score with a layup. Tennessee State forced a turnover with 40 seconds left.
Fitzgerald Jr. extended the lead to 78-75 with a floater in the paint.
Cooper sealed the game with a steal on the final inbound. ||
TSU, 78-75
INSIDE THE STATS:
- Dedric Boyd recorded his season-high in points (28) and tied his career-high with eight rebounds.
- Kenny Cooper led the team with five assists, grabbed six rebounds and secured two steals in the final minute of play.
- In the final minute, Cooper secured a steal and the go-ahead layup, along with a game-sealing steal.
- TSU relied on their starters as CSU's bench outscored the Tigers, 35-11.
BEYOND THE BOX:
- Boyd scored the most points by a Tiger this season (26).
- Boyd matched his career-high in rebounds (8), dating back to his freshman year at Eastern Kentucky.
- Kassim Nicholson, Marcus Fitzgerald Jr., and Boyd registered at least 15 points apiece.
- Fitzgerald Jr. tallied a season-high 15 points on 6-of-9 from the field.
- TSU's won three straight games for the first time since February 6, 2020.
- In addition, the Tigers have won back-to-back road games for the first time since February 1, 2020.
UP NEXT: Tennessee State continues their road trip at South Carolina State on Saturday afternoon at Smith-Hammond-Middleton Memorial Center, tip-off scheduled for 1:00 p.m.
