COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Little Rock used a 23-0 run in the first half to take control, then held off a late Tennessee Tech rally to earn a hard-fought 91-89 victory over the Ohio Valley Conference co-leaders at the Eblen Center Saturday afternoon.
Little Rock was led by a pair of 20-point performers, including
DeAntoni Gordon setting a new career-high with 25 points and just missing his fourth double-double, adding nine rebounds. Gordon's 25 points came on 11-of-16 shooting and 3-of-4 at the free throw line.
Myron Gardner notched his fourth 20+ point game of the year, finishing with 21 on 7-of-13 shooting, including 2-of-3 from three and 5-of-6 at the free throw line. Gardner added seven rebounds and four assists as well as a steal and a block.
CJ White made his presence felt with his second double-double of the season, finishing with 13 points and a career-high 11 assists, complemented by five rebounds and a pair of steals.
D.J. Smith was the fourth Trojan to reach double figures, adding 10 points with six assists, while
Isaiah Palermo and
Nigel John both finished with eight points on the afternoon.
For the game, Little Rock shot 52.3% from the floor, going 34-of-65. The Trojans were 5-of-13 from three (38.5%) and 18-of-23 from the line (78.3%), outrebounding the Golden Eagles 37-27. Tennessee Tech finished at 53.6%, including 63.3% over the final 20 minutes as it made its final surge.
The Trojans dominated in the paint, outscoring the Golden Eagles 48-32, while holding a 19-8 edge on second chance points after outrebounding Tennessee Tech 15-7 on the offensive glass. The teams were even with 16 turnovers apiece as Little Rock led for the majority of the game at 31:34, the most since leading for just over 34 minutes in the win over Tennessee State.
Making its first-ever trip to the Eblen Center, Little Rock once again found itself down early, seeing Tennessee Tech reel off 13 of the game's first 17 points and fall into an early 13-4 deficit.
Trailing 15-6, a jumper from White sparked the largest offensive surge of the season for Little Rock as the Trojans reeled off a 23-0 run spanning six minutes, turning that 15-6 deficit into a 29-15 Little Rock lead at the 7:39 mark. All five Trojans on the court scored during that spurt, led by six points from Gordon and five each from White, Palermo and Gardner.
The 23-0 run was the most for a Trojan team since a similar 23-0 stretch against Champion Christian on December 18, 2020. It is the largest of the year for Little Rock, surpassing the 14-0 run against Tennessee State on January 21.
But after the offensive surge, Little Rock then struggled as Tennessee Tech used a 14-2 surge over the next three and a half minutes, including a 10-0 run, pulling to within two at 31-29 with 4:07 to go in the opening half.
Little Rock would push its lead back to five on a pair of occasions over the final minutes of the first half, the last of which came at 40-35 off a three from Smith, part of five-straight points for the sophomore. But Tennessee Tech made four free throws in the final minute, trimming the Little Rock halftime lead to one at 40-39.
Over the first 20 minutes, Little Rock shot 53.6% from the floor, making 3-of-7 from three and 7-of-8 from the line, holding a 19-12 rebounding edge on Tennessee Tech. The Trojans led in the paint 20-8, led by eight points from Gordon and seven each from Smith, Gardner and Palermo.
Both teams came out firing in the second half, shooting over 65% from the floor over the first eight minutes. After bouncing back and forth between a two and five-point lead, Little Rock put together a 10-2 spanning two minutes, eight of which were scored by Gardner, as the Trojans pushed their lead back to 10 at 58-48 with 14:45 remaining.
A 7-0 Golden Eagle run pulled Tennessee Tech within three at 58-55 a minute later, but the Trojans would put together an 8-1 run of its own, pushing its lead back to 10 at 66-56 with 12:02 remaining.
The Trojans would push their lead to as many as 12 off a three from Smith with nine minutes remaining, giving the Little Rock the 72-60 lead. But that sparked an 8-0 run for Tennessee Tech, trimming the lead to 72-68 with just over seven minutes to go.
But another extended run for the Trojans matched their game-high as Little Rock used a 10-0 run spanning just under two minutes to take an 82-68 lead with 4:53 to play as four different Trojans scored during the surge. Tennessee Tech then found its three point touch, making three in a row as the Golden Eagles used a 19-6 run to pull to within one at 88-87 with 30 seconds to go.
The Golden Eagles missed a three point attempt to take the lead with 30 seconds left, which was answered by an
Ethan Speaker tip-in with 8.9 seconds remaining to give the Trojans the 90-87 lead. The Golden Eagles would hit two free throws with 5.1 seconds remaining, closing the gap to 90-89, before Gordon hit one of two at the line to make it 91-89 with 4.5 seconds remaining. Tennessee Tech then missed the game-winning shot at the buzzer as Little Rock notches its first road victory of the year.
The Trojans shot 51.% over the final 20 minutes, led by 17 from Gordon and 14 from Gardner. That was enough to hold off a hot-shooting Tennessee Tech team that shot 63.3% in the second half, including 5-of-10 from three point range.
The Golden Eagles were led by 28 points from Jaylen Sebree, 23 of which came in the second half, while Jayvis Harvey finished with 24, scoring 16 of those in the first half.
Little Rock will remain on the road, closing out its three game road swing on Thursday, February 2 when it travels to Cape Girardeau, Missouri, to take on Southeast Missouri. Opening tip against the Redhawks is set for 7:30 p.m. at the Show Me Center.
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