MELBOURNE, Fla. | James Eads led four Tuskegee University men's basketball players in double figures, but it wasn't enough to overcome the hot shooting of William Jewell in the opening game of the Florida Tech Tournament as the Golden Tigers fell 76-58 Friday afternoon.

Eads led Tuskegee (0-5) with 19 points, including connecting on 8-of-9 from the free throw line. The sophomore, after missing the last game with an injury, also recorded a pair of rebounds and steals in the loss. Travis Flagg finished with 15 points on the night, including a 9-of-10 performance from the free throw line; while Austin Cherry finished with 12 points, including hitting 7-of-8 from the free throw line.

Freshman Alex Perry recorded his first double figure game of his career, finishing with 10 points and eight rebounds for the Golden Tigers.

Tuskegee finished the night shooting just 24.6 (14-of-57) percent from the floor and 18.8 (3-of-16) percent from beyond the arc. They shot an amazing 87.1 (27-of-31) percent from the free throw line on the night.

However, it wasn't enough to overcome the 54.8 (23-of-42) percent shooting from the floor of William Jewell - who also shot 50 (10-of-20) percent from beyond the arc. Patrick Whelan led William Jewell with 19 points on the night,while Larry Fitzgerald added 13 in the victory. 

Tuskegee will play in the consolation game Saturday afternoon against either Bluefield State or Florida Tech at 3:30 pm (est).

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