Thursday, January 12, 2012

TSU's Covington Scores 30 in Victory over Morehead State

NASHVILLE, Tennessee - Robert Covington set a career-high 30 points to help Tennessee State snap a three-game losing skid with a 77-72 victory over Morehead State on Wednesday evening at the Gentry Center.

The Tigers (9-9, 2-3 Ohio Valley) and Eagles (8-10, 2-3 OVC) played back-and-forth in the first half. But TSU scored 13 points down the stretch to improve their OVC win streak at the Gentry Center to five games.

The Tigers shot 49 percent (23-of-47) for the game, out-rebounding the Eagles 30-to-27. TSU dished out 18 assists and tied a season-high with 13 triples.

Nashville native Wil Peters blocked a shot and proceeded to hit a trey at 6:18 to give the Tigers some momentum. Covington added a triple and Kenny Moore tallied two free throws to put the Tigers ahead of Morehead State in the final two minutes.

Covington finished with 30 points and eight rebounds. He added a block, a steal and an assist in 35 minutes of action. From the field, the junior finished 9-of-12. He set a career-high with seven made triples, surpassing his previous total of five against Siena on Nov. 13, 2009.

The 30 points by Covington was the most for a Tiger since Parker Smith managed 30 on Jan. 17, 2009.

Freshman guard Jay Harris had a breakout performance, tallying 12 points, an assist and a steal in 21 minutes. The Philadelphia product was 3-of-4 from the field.

Peters managed several milestones after draining three triples and scoring 12 points in the win. The senior's 115 made triples is two shy of reaching TSU's top-10 list for career made 3-pointers.

Peters played a game-high 37 minutes and eclipsed over 3,000 minutes played in his four-year career. In the assists column, Peters dished out a game-best six balls. He also recorded a career-best two blocks.

Patrick Miller and Jordan Cyphers each had seven points against the Eagles. Miller set a career-high with eight rebounds and dished out five assists.

At the half, the Tigers took their first lead in the locker room since the UT Martin game. TSU's 34-32 lead was helped by a 46 field goal percentage (13-of-28). TSU forced 10 Morehead State turnovers.

FINAL STATS



Covington led the Tigers with 14 points and Miller had four boards and four points in the first half.

The game went back-and-forth with the Tigers and Eagles within two during the first 12 minutes. TSU expanded its' lead to five after Covington drained a triple to put up TSU 30-25 with 5:09 left.

Milton Chavis added a layup for Morehead State to narrow the Eagles' deficit to 32-29 with 1:33 left. In the final seconds, Marsell Holden drained a triple to make it a 34-32 game at the half.

In the second half, the game again started out back-and-forth with the two squads trading jabs. Holden's triple tied the game at 41-41 with 15:12.

The lead changed on 16 occasions during the game and did so quite frequently in the second half. The Tigers' felt momentum swing their way when Peters blocked a shot and then drove down the court to drain a triple, making it a 64-60 game.

Morehead State would tie the contest again, but TSU used 13 points down the stretch to snap a current-three game losing skid and improve to 17-3 at the Gentry Center during the past two seasons.

TSU remains at home this Saturday when the Tigers host SIUE at 7:30 p.m. Saturday is Kid's Day at the Gentry Center and all kids K-12 will receive free admission to the game.

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Courtesy: Tennessee State University Sports Information

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