Box Score
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Box Score

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Eastern Kentucky turned the ball over a season-high 17 times and allowed Tennessee Tech to shoot 56 percent from the field in a 72-66 road loss on Thursday.

The Golden Eagles (13-13, 6-5 OVC) led by as many as 16 in the first half. The Colonels (17-9, 7-5 OVC) got within two with 14:59 left in the game and trailed by three with 2:03 left, but could never get over the hump.

Corey Walden led EKU with 17 points, five assists and four rebounds. Marcus Lewis finished with 14 points. Dennis Ogbe led all players with 18 points and tied for a game-best seven rebounds for Tech.

Tennessee Tech jumped out to a 21-5 lead eight minutes into the game. A three-pointer by Shimane Thomas capped the quick start. The Colonels answered with eight straight, but still trailed by 12 with just under seven minutes before the break.

An 11-4 run got the visitors back in the game. Walden hit a three-pointer and Eric Stutz scored the final four points to cut the deficit to five, 32-27, with 3:05 on the clock. Eastern still trailed by five at halftime.

A basket by Lewis five minutes into the second half had EKU within two, 44-42. Tech scored eight straight to stretch the margin to 10. The Colonels made one more run at the Golden Eagles. Glenn Cosey's three-pointer with 2:03 left in the game cut the deficit to three, 64-61, but that is as close as Eastern would get.

TTU shot 55.8 percent from the field while EKU made 40.8 percent of its shots.

The Colonels continue their two-game OVC road trip at Jacksonville State on Saturday. The game is scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. ET.

NOTES
Eastern Kentucky has the best turnover margin in the nation (+7.0), but finished with only three fewer turnovers than Tennessee Tech on Thursday.

Eastern Kentucky is 13-0 this season when holding opponents under 70 points. The Colonels are 4-9 when allowing 70 or more.

The game featured two of the top three teams in the OVC in scoring defense. EKU is second at 70.2 points allowed per game. TTU is third at 71.6 points given up per game.

Entering the game, the Colonels had committed 176 fewer turnovers and out-scored their opponents by 244 points off turnovers (536-292). On Thursday against Tennessee Tech, Eastern had three fewer turnovers and were out-scored by the Golden Eagles 24-17 off turnovers.

Eastern's Corey Walden had 10 steals combined in his team's previous three games. He had two steals on Thursday against Tennessee Tech. Walden entered the game ranked 19th in the nation in steals.

EKU entered the game fourth in the nation in steals (228) and seventh with an average of 9.1 per game. The Colonels had seven steals on Thursday against Tennessee Tech.

Eastern Kentucky now leads the all-time series 70-57. The Colonels are 27-35 in games played in Cookeville.