ATLANTA | With only eight players dressed for the contest on Saturday, the Tuskegee University Golden Tigers fought valiantly throughout the contest before dropping their Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) opener to Morehouse College 64-52 on the road in Forbes Arena Saturday afternoon.
Tuskegee (0-8, 0-1 SIAC) led early in the first half and took a five-point advantage into halftime following a 9-0 run that started with four minutes to play in the half. Trailing 17-15, the Golden Tigers took a one-point lead when
Alex Perry knocked down a pair of free throws with 2:14 to play before half to give Tuskegee an 18-17 lead. The lead extended to seven (24-17) when Perry knocked down a pair of free throws later in the half and
James Eads drove to the basket with 2:04 to play to extend the lead.
After Morehouse chipped the deficit to five (24-19), Tuskegee used a free throw by
Travis Flagg and layup from Perry to extend the lead to 27-19 with 56 seconds to play in the opening half.
However, Morehouse trimmed the lead to 27-22 on a Tyrius Walker three-pointer with three seconds left before the half that ignited a 20-3 run by the Maroon Tigers that ran six minutes into the second half, giving Morehouse a 40-30 lead with 13:50 to play in the contest.
Morehouse (5-2, 1-0 SIAC) was able to hold that lead until Tuskegee charged back on a pair of occasions to trim the deficit to five. The latest time came when the Golden Tigers were down 53-43 with 5:44 to play in the contest. The Golden Tigers used a pair of baskets by
James Eads to trim the deficit to 56-47 with 3:45 to play, before Perry and Eads hit lay-ups to trim the deficit to 56-51 with 3:12 to play.
Travis Flagg was able to get it to 56-52 with 2:34 to play before Morehouse was able to put the game away at the free throw line down the stretch.
Eads led Tuskegee with 22 points, connecting on 10-of-15 shots from the floor on the night, while also grabbing six rebounds and dishing out a pair of assists. Flagg finished with 17 points, hitting a pair of three-pointers and dishing out three assists. Perry finished with 12 points and six rebounds in the loss.
Tuskegee shot 46.5 (20-of-43) percent from the floor and just 28.6 (4-of-14) from beyond the arc. They also shot 61.5 (8-of-13) percent from the free throw line, while winning the rebounding battle 41-28.
Walker led Morehouse with a game-high 31 points, including connecting on 13-of-15 from the free throw line. Omar Alston added nine points – all in the second half – and 11 rebounds for Morehouse, who shot 35.1 (20-of-57) percent from the floor – including shooting 46.7 (14-of-30) percent from the floor in the second half. The Maroon Tigers also shot just 20 (4-of-20) percent from beyond the arc and 74.1 (20-of-27) percent from the free throw line, forcing 31 turnovers by Tuskegee.
The Golden Tigers return to action against Johnson C. Smith at home Sunday afternoon, with tip scheduled for 3:30 pm inside Chappie James Arena – the final home game until January 2. The game will be aired by the Tuskegee Digital Network.
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