RICHMOND, Ky. – Tennessee State's Andrae Belton netted a lay-up with 2.2 seconds remaining in regulation to lift the visiting Tigers to a 63-62 win over the Eastern Kentucky University men's basketball team Thursday night in McBrayer Arena. TSU (10-10, 6-4 OVC) picked up its fifth win in its last six games while the Colonels (10-9, 5-6) have now dropped three straight contests.
Tennessee State trailed by as many as 12 points, 37-25, early in the second half before rallying for just its second road win of the season. The Tigers still trailed by eight, 56-48, with 4:18 left, but put together an 11-1 run, capped by two Belton free throws with 1:26 showing, to take a 59-57 lead.
Eastern Kentucky responded on its ensuing possession thanks to a Darnell Dialls lay-in to level the score at 59-all. A Belton pull-up jumper from the free throw line then put TSU back in front with just 33 seconds remaining, 61-59. The back-and-forth finale continued when Dialls completed an old-fashioned three-point play with 14.9 ticks left to make the score 62-61 in favor of the Colonels.
Following a time-out, Tennessee State set up a final play which looked like it was going to be a Reiley Ervin jumper at the top of the lane. However, Ervin passed off the ball to a wide open Belton underneath the basket for an easy bucket with 2.2 seconds left. Eastern Kentucky was not able to get off a shot on its last possession.
Belton finished with a team-high 18 points to pace Tennessee State. Forward Clarence Matthews added his fifth double-double of the season thanks to 16 points and 10 rebounds.
For EKU, sophomore Mike Rose tallied a game-high 25 points on 6-of-12 (50 percent) shooting from behind the arc. The guard also finished one rebound shy of his personal high (eight boards). Senior Julian Mascoll chipped in with 10 points, five assists and four steals. However, Mascoll recorded just two points in the second stanza.
Eastern Kentucky has the weekend off before hosting Tennessee-Martin on Monday, Jan. 29. Tip time is slated for 7:30 p.m.
