EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The Tennessee State men's basketball team dominated SIUE, 77-62, in a wire-to-wire victory.
FIRST HALF: The Tigers began the OVC first round with a three-pointer from
Marcus Fitzgerald Jr. on the first possession of the game.
Kassim Nicholson drained consecutive mid-range jumpers as TSU opened the contest with a 7-0 lead. After three scoreless minutes from the field,
Dedric Boyd cashed in back-to-back three-pointers to extend the lead to 14-2. With a 13-point advantage, Tennessee State extended the lead with 12 straight points.
Shakem Johnson tallied a game-high 12 points in the opening stanza on 5-of-6 from the field. TSU limited SIUE to 21.4% from the field in the first half. ||
TSU, 42-28
SECOND HALF: The two programs went scoreless for two minutes to begin the half.
Carlos Marshall Jr. logged his first basket of the game to put the Tigers on the board. SIUE cut the deficit to single digits after an 11-2 scoring run. In a two-minute stretch,
Johnson scored six points to extend the advantage to double-figures. Tennessee State never trailed in the contest as the Tigers shot 44.1% for the game.
Marshall Jr. tallied all of his 14 points in the second half. ||
TSU, 77-62
INSIDE THE STATS:
- Shakem Johnson posted his second double-double of the season with a season-high 22 points and 11 rebounds.
- Coming off the bench, Carlos Marshall Jr. registered 14 points, five rebounds and three assists.
- Tennessee State held SIU-Edwardsville to 30% shooting (16-for-54) from the field.
- The Tigers led the points in the paint, 36-20.
BEYOND THE BOX:
- It was the first meeting between SIUE and TSU in the OVC Tournament.
- In consecutive appearances, Tennessee State's won the opening round game in the OVC Tournament.
- Johnson's career-high 30 points came against SIU-Edwardsville on February 4, 2021.
UP NEXT: (#5) Tennessee State will take on (#4) SEMO at 6:30pm tomorrow night at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana.
TICKETS: Head to TicketMaster.com or click
here for tickets for tomorrow's session.
