Tennessee State battles to 79-72 Win Over EIU Panthers

Photo: #11 Bruce Price scores 20 points in nationally televised contest with EIU. The 6-3/205 junior guard is from South H.S., Minneapolis, MN.

Courtesy: Tennessee State Sports Information

Robinson, Price Pace Tigers With 20 Points Each

Tennessee State University (8-10, 5-4) used a 14-2 second half run to erase a two-point halftime deficit and defeat Eastern Illinois University (2-16, 1-9) by a 79-72 score in a nationally televised OVC contest.

Gerald Robinson, Jr. and Bruce Price scored 20 points each and were joined by LaDarious Weaver (15) and Darius Cox (10) in double-figure scoring.

The Panthers of Eastern Illinois got double figure scoring from Jon’Tee Willhite (19), Bobby Catchings (18) and Ousame Cisse (12). Willhite finished with a game-high 9rebounds.

In the first half, Eastern Illinois scored the first points on a 3-pointer by Bobby Catchings (19:27) and held the upper had until the 13:12 mark, when the Tigers tied the score 12-12 after a steal and layup by Robinson. TSU held a lead briefly but EIU tied the game at 18-18 (10:48) and led until the 5:01 mark when the Tigers regained the lead 27-24 after a LaDarious Weaver three-point basket. The Panthers fought back for a 35-32 lead with 1:12 remaining in the half before Gerald Robinson’s layup (0:57) put TSU behind by one, 35-34, before the intermission.

TSU opened the second half with a 14-2 run, for a 50-37 lead at 13:27. The Tigers opened their lead to 58-44 midway through the period (9:58) and held a double-digit lead for most of the second half. EIU closed the lead to eight points, 68-60 (2:51) and 77-69 (0:28), but in the last minute they were forced to fouling in an attempt to get in the game, but Bruce Price sank 3-of-4 foul shots in the thirty seconds to seal the win for TSU.

Eastern Illinois won the battle of the boards 38-21. The Panthers shot 49% (24-49) from the floor and 68% (19-28) from the foul line, while the Tigers shot 52% (29-56) from the field and 75% (9-12) from the foul line. TSU hit 12-of-24 (50%) from beyond the 3-point arc.

TSU will complete a three-game home stand when they host Eastern Kentucky on Thursday, January 24th at Gentry Center. Tip off is set for 7:30 p.m.

Tennessee State Tigers clobbers SEMO 87-75

Photo: TSU junior guard Bruce Price, 6-3/205, South High School, Minneapolis, MN

Courtesy: Tennessee State Sports Information (1/18/08)

Bruce Price Leads Tigers with 33 points

Tennessee State University (7-10, 4-4 OVC) gained a season split with Southeast Missouri State (11-3, 6-3 OVC) by downing the Redhawks 87-75 at the Gentry Center in Nashville, Thursday. The Tigers dropped a 102-95 decision in Cape Giradeau earlier this season (12/06/07).

TSU guard Bruce Price led all scorers with 33 points, marking the sixth time he has scored over 30 points in his career at Tennessee State. Three other Tigers scored in double figures with freshman guard Gerald Robinson, Jr. adding 18 points, forward Jerrell Houston netting 12 points and guard LaDarious Weaver canning 11 points. Houston notched his second consecutive double-double pulling down a game high 14 rebounds.

Southeast Missouri, playing without one of their top players, Brandon Foust, had four players in double figure scoring, led by Kenard Moore (16). Jaycen Herring and Marcus Rhodes tallied 11 points each and Calvin Williams added ten points.

The Tigers opened the scoring at 18:56 on a lay up by Bruce Price and never trailed in the game. TSU built double-digit leads at 9:03 (23-10) and 5:52 (29-17), but only led by one point (34-33) at the half.

In the second half, The Tigers moved out to another double-digit lead, 47-37, at the 15:25 mark, but the Redhawks closed the lead to three points, 49-46, with 13:12 remaining. TSU went on a 19-2 run and a 66-48 lead with 8:05 left in the game. TSU held off any runs SEMO mounted through the end of the game, for the final twelve point win, 87-75.

On the game, TSU shot 45.3% (29-64) from the floor and 68% (21-31) from the foul line. SEMO had similar numbers, shooting 44% (24-55) from the floor and 69% (20-29) from the foul line. TSU hit 8-24 (33.3%) from behind the arc and SEMO hit 7-23 (30.4%) from 3-point land. Tennessee State won the battle of the boards 40-37.

The Tigers will host Eastern Illinois on Saturday (1/19) at 4:30 p.m. in the Gentry Center. The game will be telecast nationally on ESPNU-TV.

Tennessee State gets road win at Samford

The Tennessee State University Tigers evened their OVC record at 3-3 with a 55-46 win at Samford University’s new Pete Hanna Arena in Birmingham, Alabama. Two TSU players Jerrell Houston and Reiley Ervin scored in double figures scoring 15 and 10 points respectively. Samford managed just two double figure scorers. Guard Josh Bedwell led all scorers and rebounders with 16 points and nine rebounds while center Travis Peterson tallied 14 points.

"We didn't shoot the ball well tonight at all," said Samford head coach Jimmy Tillette. "We can't have (Travis) Peterson go 0-for-5, (Joe Ross) Merritt go 1-for-7 and (Trey) Montgomery go 1-for-5 from 3-point range and expect to win. We need to be better in our zone offense and that falls on me, because I need to do a better job of coaching it."

The Bulldogs' loss was also their first home defeat against Tennessee State (6-9, 3-3 OVC) since Nov. 28, 1986.

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TSU Lady Tigers drops UT-Martin

Photo: TSU junior 5-7 guard Kendra Appling, Jackson High School, Jackson, GA, leads Lady Tigers in scoring with 23 points/8 rebounds.

Nashville, Tenn.--Despite getting off to a slow start the Tennessee State University women’s basketball team won its fourth straight contest by defeating UT-Martin 58-52 Monday night in the Gentry Center. With the win, Tennessee State (7-7, 4-1 OVC) extends its home winning streak to three while UT-Martin (3-12, 0-5 OVC) drops its tenth straight.

Tennessee State fell behind 5-16 early in the first half but recovered and went into the halftime break with a 33-25 lead. Kendra Appling led TSU with 23 points while Oby Okafor added 21. Crystal Fuller led UT-Martin with 23 points and 10 rebounds. Phyllisha Mitchell added 12 points.

The Lady Tigers return to action on Thursday at Samford. Game time is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.

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TSU Lady Tigers races past Murray State in O.T.

Photo: Tennessee State's junior forward Oby Okafor scores her sixth double/double of season on Murray State Lady Racers with 31 points/12 rebounds in Lady Tigers win.

Oby Okafor had 31 points and 12 rebounds as Tennessee State almost blew a 20-point lead, but hung on for a 90-85 overtime victory Saturday night at Murray State. The win improves Tennessee State to 6-7 overall and 3-1 in the early Ohio Valley Conference race. Murray State Lady Racers fell to 9-5 and 3-3.

Kendra Appling added 26 points and eight rebounds for TSU while Tiffany Jackson added 16 points and nine rebounds. LaDona Pierce had 11 assists for the Lady Tigers.

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Okafor is asserting herself at both ends of the court with her second monster game in scoring and rebounding. TSU is playing well and hopefully they will continue this trend. The stock is rising for the Lady Tigers in the OVC with Okafor in All-American form.

Next up for TSU--Monday, they host UT-Martin in the Gentry Center. Game time is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.

TSU Lady Tigers rips Morehead State Eagles

Photo: Oby Okafor recorded her fifth double-double of the season with 20 points and 10 rebounds against Morehead State University. The 5-9 junior forward from Rolla, Missouri Rolla High School is majoring is Psychology.

Tennessee State shot better than 50 percent from the field Thursday night to help capture a 74-62 win over Morehead State in the Gentry Center. With the win the Lady Tigers move to 5-7 (2-1 OVC) while the Eagles drop to 3-10 (1-4 OVC).

Oby Okafor picked up her fifth double-double of the season with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Kendra Appling also posted 20 points and just missed her first career double-double with nine boards. Tiffany Jackson nearly recorded a double-double as well with 18 points and nine rebounds.

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Tennessee State wins ugly over Morehead State

Photo: #11 TSU Bruce Price, 6-3/205 junior guard, Minneapolis, Minnesota South High School.

A second-half rally by the Morehead State men fell short as the Tennessee State Tigers defeated the Eagles, 59-53, Thursday evening at the Gentry Center in Nashville. The Tigers continued their domination on defense to clap down on the MSU Eagles, holding the team to only 36 percent shooting for the game. This improved the Tigers record to 5-7, 2-1 Ohio Valley Conference, but more importantly continued the win streak began with TSU upset of Illinois 60-58 on Sunday.

Both teams started the game slowly, with Morehead scoring the first basket at the 18:30 mark of the game. The Eagles gained their biggest lead 7-4 with 14:30 left in the first half but TSU moved ahead 8-7 with 12:17 left. After an 8-8 tie (11:07) the Tigers took control of the half and took a 28-18 lead into the half.

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From a fan perspective, the Tigers do just enough on offense to win but their defense is beginning to jell into championship form.

Tennessee State upsets Illinois on road 60-58

The fourth major test was a charm for the Tennessee State men's basketball team Sunday. After suffering close losses to major powers Georgia Tech, Indiana and Vanderbilt earlier in the season, the Tigers scored their biggest win of the season with a 60-58 upset victory over Big Ten foe Illinois before a stunned Assembly Hall crowd of 16,618 in Champaign, Illinois.

"There's no question about it that having been there before made a big difference," TSU Coach Cy Alexander said. "We've played with all of these teams. We haven't gotten blown out by anybody all year. This is a great win for our program as we try to move the program forward."

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This is a tremendous win for the Tennessee State University men's basketball team over a high quality Division I program.

This win was no fluke.

The Tigers led 29-24 at halftime behind 40 percent shooting from the field and five 3-pointers. Tennessee State ended the game 8-for-19 from 3-point range. The Tigers' second-half advantage increased to 47-33 before Illinois (8-5) rallied to cut the lead to 48-45.

Congratulations to the TSU Tigers!

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Vandy avoids Tennessee State upset

Photo:TSU's Bruce Price goes up for two points during the Vanderbilt vs. Tennessee State men's basketball game Saturday at Vanderbilt.

Robinson, a dynamic freshman from Martin Luther King High, scored TSU's first 20 points of the second half, but the Tigers failed to upset the No. 17 Commodores, who held on for an 83-74 win before a relieved Memorial Gym crowd of 13,808.

"We lost the game when we had them down and we didn't bury them,'' TSU Coach Cy Alexander said. "Against a great team like Vanderbilt you have a chance, you have some free throw opportunities, you have some wide open shot opportunities, you're up seven or eight points and you don't take advantage."

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TSU's sights set on OVC title run

By MIKE ORGAN, The Tennessean

Coaches pick Tigers to finish sixth

The middle of the pack is not where Cy Alexander expected Tennessee State's men's basketball team to be headed into his fifth season with the Tigers.

But that's where the coaches and sports information directors in the Ohio Valley Conference picked TSU at Wednesday's media day at LP Field.

Austin Peay was the overwhelming pick to win the conference, Eastern Kentucky was second, and Tennessee Tech third. TSU was picked sixth.

It's hard for Alexander to paint a brighter picture than what was predicted and he admitted the team's inability to reach the upper-echelon of the conference has created a sense of urgency.

"We had to take a step back last year and that was disappointing,'' Alexander said. "I felt the pain every time we lost. There is a sense of urgency because we want to turn the corner. We've been close, but we haven't really turned this program back into a winning and championship caliber program."

Over the past three years TSU regressed. The Tigers went 14-17 and finished sixth in the OVC in 2004-05; 13-15 and a seventh-place finish in 2005-06, and 12-20, finishing eighth in 2006-07.

Missing key players

Alexander said losing key players in each of the last two seasons has been the reason TSU has failed to gain ground.

In 2005-06, the Tigers lost 6-foot-1 guard Bruce Price to a knee injury and Eric King, a 6-7 senior, who abruptly quit the team. Then last year, Price re-injured his knee and Jerrell Houston, a 6-8 transfer from Mississippi State, became eligible only for the final five games.

"We've had two years in a row where two of our better players haven't been able to play,'' Alexander said.

"You go two years without arguably your two best players and there were a lot of close games over that span that you could argue, had those two guys each year been on the court, possibly the outcome of those games might have been different."

TSU lost five games last season by six points or fewer.

Price returns

With Price healthy again this year and Houston's eligibility problems resolved, at least Alexander's expectations, if not the rest of the league's coaches, are rising again.

"Bruce is a warrior and he also has the capabilities of being a very good leader because he plays hard all the time and practices hard,'' Alexander said.

"Jerrell wasn't able to do much for us last year because he had missed 20-something games and he was anxious and he really didn't know our system very well because he was on the scout team when he wasn't eligible. We expect a lot more out of him.''


OHIO VALLEY CONFERENCE FORECAST
Predicted order of finish as voted by conference coaches and sports information directors, with first-place votes in parentheses. Teams selected by coaches and sports information directors:

OVC MEN
1. Austin Peay (19) 199
2. E. Kentucky (1) 166
3. Tennessee Tech (2) 160
4. Murray St. 149
5. SE Missouri 131
6. Tennessee St. 101
7. Samford 85
8. Eastern Illinois 75
9. Jacksonville St. 61
10. Morehead St. 50
11. Tennessee Martin 33

Preseason top players
G-Bruce Carter, Murray State
G-Anthony Fisher, Tennessee Tech
F-Brandon Foust, SE Missouri
G-Adam Leonard, E. Kentucky
G/F-Fernandez Lockett, Austin Peay
G-Romain Martin, E. Illinois
F-Amadi McKenzie, Tennessee Tech
C-Travis Peterson, Samford
F-Drake Reed, Austin Peay
G-Mike Rose, E. Kentucky
Preseason player of the year: Drake Reed, Austin Peay

OVC WOMEN
1. SE Missouri (19) 199
2. Samford (2) 161
3. Murray State 155
4. Eastern Illinois (1) 119
5. Tennessee Tech 118
6. UT Martin 114
7. Eastern Kentucky 105
8. Morehead State 100
9. Austin Peay 69
10. Tennessee State 48
11. Jacksonville State 22

Preseason top players
F_Rachel Galligan, E. Illinois
G_Jessica Huffman, E. Illinois
G_Crystal Jones, E. Kentucky
G_Amber Guffey, Murray St.
F_Alex Munday, Samford
F/C_Missy Whitney, SE Missouri
G_Ashley N. Hayes, Murray St.
G/F_Sonya Daugherty, SE Missouri
F/C_Phyllisha Mitchell, Tenn.-Martin
G/F_Obiageli Okafor, Tennessee St.
Preseason player of the year: Missy Whitney, SE Missouri

Tennessee State center likes chances with Lakers

Photo: #44, Former TSU's Larry Turner

By MIKE ORGAN, The Tennessean

Larry Turner didn't exactly bounce right from college basketball to the NBA.

There was plenty of unfinished business the 6-foot-11 Turner needed to tend to after graduating last spring from Tennessee State University.

Eventually he signed a two-year free agent contract with the Lakers. He arrived in Los Angeles just this week, and Wednesday went through his first workout, a one-on-one session with Lakers' forward-center Kwame Brown.

"I'm excited and looking forward to it,'' Turner said. "It's always been my dream to play in the NBA."

Hearing that Turner, who averaged 5.8 points and 6.1 rebounds for TSU, had signed with the Lakers came as a surprise for some. The 2005 transfer from Oklahoma was never a consistent contributor for the Tigers and didn't even stay in the starting lineup.

After leaving TSU, Turner relied on a local training facility, Velocity Sports Performance in Cool Springs.

When Turner showed up, he was 233 pounds and determined to get bigger and stronger, according to Mick Weber, Director of Sports Performance at the facility. Working two-hour sessions, five times a week, Turner increased his bench press from 300 to 335 pounds, and bulked up to 255 pounds. Turner worked feverishly to improve his game. He worked one-on-one with Pistons star Nazr Mohammed and the Celtics' Rajon Rondo, and played in the NBA Summer League.

Under the deal, Turner will have to play well in next month's camp to make the team, said his agent Holman Harley. He'll be guaranteed his yearly salary — which Harley refused to disclose — if he can stick until Jan. 10.

"I was able to run the floor pretty well in the summer league,'' Turner said. "I led the Lakers in blocked shots and they liked that."

"He's a big guy that runs the floor, plays hard, listens, blocks shots, rebounds the basketball," Lakers assistant coach and former player Kurt Rambis told Lakers.com. "He's big and strong and has a big body."
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From Lakers sources...

In August of last year, the Star ran a story on Turner, who had been sent by TSU to the Philippines for six weeks of training under Kirk Collier, the skills coach of San Miguel Beer and Ginebra San Miguel in the PBA. He is the first ever player signed by the Los Angeles Lakers that trained in the Philippines.

I’m very happy for Larry, he’s a really good person," Collier told The Star. "If he stays with the team beyond Jan. 10, then his contract will be binding."

Collier worked with Turner on his post moves and perimeter game, and believes the former Oklahoma player will be a good fit with the league’s superstars, like Kobe Bryant and Lamar Odom.

"He has a long way to go, but he’s earned this opportunity," says Collier, who originally came to the Philippines to train the players of Red Bull. "What he has to do now is fit in, and not try to be a big scorer right away."