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COOKEVILLE, Tenn. -- Junior Dennis Ogbe poured in a career-high 26 points, while senior Jud Dillard added 23 and the Tennessee Tech men’s basketball team posted a 72-66 victory over Morehead State on Saturday evening at the Eblen Center.
Ogbe connected on 9-of-15 from the field, 5-of-8 from three-point range and 3-of-4 from the free-throw line. He also yanked down six rebounds and rejected a game-high three shots.
Dillard nailed just 6-of-17 from the floor and missed all three long-range shots, but made 11-of-15 from the charity stripe. He also collected seven rebounds, four steals and three assists.
“We unfortunately didn’t have an answer for Ogbe and Dillard,” Head Coach Sean Woods said. “Those two were a handful tonight. Ogbe wanted to finish his junior year strong, and Dillard wanted to close out his career with a bang. Give them a lot of credit.”
The Golden Eagles, who fall short of an OVC Tournament berth, finish their campaign 12-17 overall, 5-11 in league
play and 9-5 at home. The Eagles, who had previously secured a No. 5 seed, slip to 14-17 overall, 8-8 in conference action and 4-12 on the road.
Morehead State still owns a 76-63 advantage in the all-time series and has still won 11 of its last 13 contests against Tennessee Tech. Saturday was Senior Night for the Golden Eagles.
“Tennessee Tech had nothing to lose tonight,” Woods said. “They played hard, they played together and they executed their game plan. They were determined to finish the season with win.”
The contest featured 11 ties and 12 lead changes. Neither team's cushion grew past seven points. TTU's largest advantage of seven came with 12:42 left in the first half. MSU’s biggest lead of five arrived less than three minutes in.
Morehead State junior Bakari Turner evened things on an old-fashioned three-point play with 1:12 remaining, but Tennessee Tech answered with the game’s final six points.
Junior Jeremiah Samarrippas gave the Golden Eagles a lead they didn't relinquish on a three with 52 ticks to play. TTU then canned three of its final four free throws en route to the win.
Sophomore Angelo Warner led Morehead State with 11 points, six rebounds and three assists. Junior Chad Posthumus added 10 points and six boards for the Eagles.
Senior Devon Atkinson, the only Morehead State player to start all 31 contests this season, departed midway through the first half with an injury and did not return.
“We were put in an adverse situation when Devon went down,” Woods said. “We don’t have a lot of depth at point guard and the guys we have behind Devon got in foul trouble.”
Morehead State registered only nine assists and committed 16 turnovers on the night.
“We made some costly mistakes down the stretch, and some of that had to do with Devon being out,” Woods said. “You’re unfortunately going to struggle when your floor general isn’t out there.”
Morehead State will face eighth-seeded UT Martin in the first round of the OVC Tournament on Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET. The winner will move on to Thursday’s quarterfinal against fourth-seeded Tennessee State. The Eagles were 1-0 against UTM and 2-0 vs. TSU during the regular season.
“We had a good win on Thursday at Tennessee State, but we clearly didn’t get it done tonight,” Woods said. “I’m hoping this setback makes our team hungrier. We have three days to get ready for the OVC Tournament. Wednesday is a brand new season -- and we’re looking forward to it.”
