Nashville, Tennessee – The
Tennessee State men’s basketball team made a season-high 10 three-pointers en
route to a 67-64 victory over USC-Upstate on Friday night.
Jordan
Cyphers, after missing the team’s last game with a stomach virus, notched a
season-high 22 points in the win and was four-of-seven from beyond the arc.
TSU forced 19 turnovers in the game and shot
47.8 percent from the field (22-of-46).
Tennessee State won the tip, but didn’t score a
point for the first 3:20 of the game. Cyphers ended the drought with a
three-pointer, but TSU still trailed the Spartans, 3-6.
Over the next four minutes, USC-Upstate had a
pair of rim-rocking dunks, but two threes from Kellen
Thornton tied the game for the first time at 11 each.
Thornton led all scorers during the opening
stanza with 10 points on 4-of-9 shooting. He finished with 14 points and was
five-of-thirteen from the field.
The teams traded blows for the better part of
the half and the lead changed six times. Neither side was able to gain more than
a one-possession advantage until the Spartans went up 29-25 with a layup off of
a TSU inbound pass. The score would be the last of the period.
TSU forced 10 turnovers in the first half, but
USC-Upstate outscored the Tigers 20-8 in the paint during the first 20
minutes.
The Spartans opened the second half on a 6-2
run, prompting TSU head coach Travis
Williams to burn a timeout. The pep-talked worked, as the Tigers scored
seven straight to pull within one at 34-35 with 15 minutes left in the
game.
Tashan
Fredrick led the charge with an assisted three-pointer and a floater inside
the lane.
The Tigers still trailed by two at the 12:35
mark until Cyphers hit his third three of the game, and the second in the past
two minutes, to take the lead at 42-41.
Again, the teams went back-and-forth until Pat
Miller hit TSU’s eighth and ninth threes in quick succession to put the Tigers
up 55-49 with 7:54 left in the game.
The Tigers kept the lead for the remainder of
the contest and eventually went up by eight when Miller found Michael Green down
low for an easy lay-in with two minutes left.
Miller finished the game with 12 points, six
assists and a team-high five rebounds.
A buzzer-beater by the Spartans would have sent
the game to overtime, but the shot went wide and TSU walked away with a 67-64
victory.
Tennessee State is off for eight days before
hosting Eastern Illinois on Dec. 29 at 7:30 p.m.
COURTESY TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION
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