Courtesy of Tennessee State Athletics
NASHVILLE —The Tennessee State men’s basketball team put on a dominating defensive performance on Wednesday night at the Gentry Center, defeating visiting Alabama State by a 68-46 final score. Jordan Reed (Philadelphia, Pa.) posted a team-high 13 points to go with 13 rebounds for Wayne Martin (Brooklyn, N.Y.).
Tennessee State (8-2) held the Hornets (1-9) to 25.4 percent shooting (15-for-59) and limited ASU to 13 first-half points. The Tigers also finished with 10 blocks and forced 21 turnovers.
Tennessee State sprinted out of the gate with an early 8-2 advantage four minutes into the game. TSU’s defense locked the Hornets down as the Tigers’ lead grew to double-digits at 22-12 on the second first-half three from Darreon Reddick (Belleville, Ill.) with 7:49 to go before halftime.
Tennessee State closed the first half on a 24-1 run, keeping the Hornets without a field goal for the last 8:47 of the half for a 40-13 halftime edge.
The Tigers held Alabama State to 18.5 percent shooting (5-for-27) in the first half and forced ASU in 11 first-half turnovers.
TSU reached 50 points in a frantic sequence where Christian Mekowulu (Lagos, Nigeria) and Xavier Williams (Fairfield, Ala.) had blocks on ASU’s offensive possession leading to a three from Delano Spencer (Atlanta, Ga.) on the other end for a 50-19 lead with 14:20 left in the game.
The Tigers continued to dominate throughout the second half, leading by as many as 32 points with just over 12 minutes to play.
McCall dished out six assists to facilitate the offense with Mekowulu scoring in double figures with 12.
Tony Armstrong scored a team-best 13 points for the Hornets on the night.
Next up, TSU heads to Durham, N.C. to face Duke on Dec. 19 for a 7 p.m. ET (6 p.m. CT) start. The game will air live on ESPN2.
GAME NOTES: TSU moves to 19-9 in the all-time series versus Alabama State… It is TSU’s first win in the series since the 1977-78 season… Tennessee State is 8-2 through 10 games for the second year in a row… Nine different TSU players scored in the first half… The 13 points allowed by TSU in the first half were the fewest this season. It is the second time TSU has held an opponent under 20 points this season… The Tigers are now 2-0 at the Gentry Center this season and 18-11 in Head Coach Dana Ford’s three-year tenure… The previous most blocks TSU had in a game this season was five on four occasions. It is the first time TSU has had 10 or more blocks since recording 10 at TCU on Dec. 29, 2014.
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