NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Down 20 points with just under eight minutes remaining in regulation, the Eastern Kentucky men's basketball team stormed back for a 79-74 win over Tennessee State Thursday night in the Gentry Center. With the victory, the Colonels (10-9, 7-4 OVC) become the first conference team this year to defeat the Tigers (6-10, 5-5) on their home court.
Tennessee State took a 41-30 lead into the locker rooms thanks to scoring the final 10 points of the first half. The Tiger advantage slowly grew larger in the second stanza and reached 20 points, 71-51, after Wayne Arnold connected on two free throws with 7:59 showing on the clock.
A new defensive look finally turned fortunes around for Eastern. The Colonels switched into a 1-3-1 defense which gave Tennessee State fits the rest of the game. A pair of fast-break lay-ups by junior Julian Mascoll and sophomore Darnell Dialls put EKU within 13, 71-58, with 5:32 left. Two minutes later, back-to-back three-pointers by seniors Matt Witt and Jason McLeish capped a 16-0 run for the Colonels to make the score, 71-67.
Witt then netted a lay-in following a TSU turnover at 1:59 to get Eastern within one point, 73-72. After Tennessee State hit 1-of-2 free throws, McLeish converted another lay-up to knot the game at 74-apiece. Eastern Kentucky's defense stepped up on the Tigers' ensuing possession, forcing a sixth turnover since the defensive change, allowing the Colonels to have a shot at the lead.
Eastern's offense came through when Witt found McLeish on a back-door cut and easy bucket to put the Colonels on top with :36 ticks left, 76-74. Tennessee State then set up Kareem Grant, who tallied six three-pointers and a game-high 31 points, for an open three-point attempt from the right wing, but the shot rimmed out. EKU pulled down the rebound and hit 3-of-4 free throws in the waning seconds to seal the improbable comeback.
The Colonels ended the contest on a 28-3 run to pull out their fifth win in the last six meetings with Tennessee State. Besides forcing the six turnovers down the stretch, EKU's defense held the Tigers to just 1-of-11 (9.1 percent) shooting from the field.
Witt and McLeish each reached the 20-point plateau in the win. Witt, who moved into third place on the Eastern all-time scoring list (1,629 points), finished with a team-best 26 points. He also tied a school record by converting his 29th consecutive free throw before missing an attempt in the second half. McLeish notched 18 of his 23 points in the second half. Meanwhile, Dialls (13 points) reached double figures for only the second time all season.
For Tennessee State, three other Tigers besides Grant registered at least 10 points including Arnold who also hauled in a game-high eight boards.
Eastern Kentucky has the weekend off before returning to action on Monday, Jan. 30 at Tennessee-Martin. Tip time is slated for 8:30 p.m.
