HUNTSVILLE, Alabama --
The Tennessee State men's basketball team won its first true road game of the
season on Saturday night against Alabama A&M, 83-72.
Tennessee State (3-5) had a season-low 10
turnovers in the game, but forced the Bulldogs into 14 miscues.
The
Tigers made the most of their good defense, scoring 21 points off of Alabama
A&M (2-4) mistakes.
TSU
had four players finish in double-figures in Robert
Covington, Kellen
Thornton, Patrick
Miller and Jordan
Cyphers. Covington led all scorers with 27 points while Thornton
added 17.
Tennessee State head coach Travis
Williams stressed taking good shots in practice during the week, and
it showed, as the Tigers shot 51 percent (26-51) from the field and 79.4 percent
(27-34) from the charity stripe.
TSU
won the tip and Covington got off to a quick start, nailing his first shot of
the game- a long three-pointer. Alabama A&M ran down the floor and countered
with a jumper, beginning a fast-paced first half in which neither side took a
timeout.
Covington continued to lead the Tigers on
offense and scored seven of TSU's first eight points of the game. He finished
the half with a team-high 14 points.
Covington may have been leading the charge, but
Tennessee State also got strong first half play from Cyphers and
Thornton.
Starting from the 15:43 mark, Cyphers canned six
straight points for the Tigers during a one-minute span. Cypher's scoring flurry
gave the Tigers a 14-8 lead.
Thornton, meanwhile, had eight points for the
Tigers during the opening stanza on 4-7 shooting.
TSU
finished the first half on a 9-2 run that started with 3:38 to go and led at the
break, 39-31.
Both
teams shot well from the field during the period, as TSU was 15-27 (55.6
percent) while Alabama A&M shot 14-27 (51.9 percent).
TSU
came out of the gates with gusto, and eventually led by 13 when Thornton
converted a layup with 17:27 left in the game.
The
Tigers kept up the pressure and Miller nailed a jumper at the 8:52 mark to give
the squad a 20-point cushion- its largest of the game.
Miller finished the game with 16 points on
4-9 shooting.
Alabama A&M whittled down the lead for the
rest of the game, but couldn't get back within seven of the Tigers, and TSU
walked away with an 83-72 victory.
Tennessee State had eight players finish with at
least 15 minutes played.
The
Tigers will go for three straight wins when they take on the Drexel Dragons at
home on Tuesday night at 7 p.m.
COURTESY TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION
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