JACKSON, Tenn. __ In a low-scoring defensive conference battle, Tuskegee (7-11, 6-6 SIAC) came out on top of Lane (6-11, 4-7 SIAC) by a final score of 48-46 on Monday night inside of J F Lane Gymnasium.
Tuskegee's defense was the unit that proved best on the night, holding Lane to just 29.1 percent shooting (16-of-55) and only four made three-pointers in the game. Both teams also struggled from the free throw line, as Lane shot 58.8 percent (10-of-17) compared to 47.8 percent (11-of-23) from Tuskegee.
The Golden Tigers scored the first two baskets of the game, by juniors
D'Anthony Pennington and
Martez Jones both in the paint, before Lane held a 7-6 lead at the first media break.
Both teams went cold over the next few minutes, as neither scored by the next media break at the 11:48-mark in the half. Lane took a six-point lead before the under-eight media timeout, and took a 19-12 lead, the largest of the half, with six minutes remaining.
Chip Culpepper sank a pair of free throws minutes later to pull TU within three points, sparking a run to close the half that saw Tuskegee tie the game before ending the half down 23-21.
The Dragons could only muster seven made field goals in the entire second half, in addition to nine free throws in the 20-minute span. They started the half extending their lead to six following four consecutive points to open the frame, before holding a 29-25 lead at the 15:52 mark and first media break.
Tuskegee responded later in the second, climbing back to tie the game at 34-34 with 11:17 to go, and later took a lead after a steal from
Julian Watson and layup from Pennington to force a timeout from the home team.
Watson hit a three on the next offensive possession, sparking a stint of play to put TU up as many as ten points to build the largest lead of the game at 47-37 with 3:47 remaining. From there, Lane battled back in response for a final time, cutting the lead to just four with 1:25 to go, and just one point after a free throw with ten seconds in the game, however a
Martez Jones free throw secured the game and conference win.
Jones had a game-high 13 points on the day along with 15 rebounds for his eighth double-double of the season, followed by
Kusamae Draper who finished with eight points and six rebounds in the win.
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