Tuskegee men’s basketball (2-0, 0-0 SIAC) picked up two wins over the weekend at home, the first over Union 71-67 on Friday, before taking down Shorter 64-52 on Saturday afternoon inside the Daniel “Chappie” James Center.
Tuskegee 71, Union 67
Despite a slow start and finding themselves trailing 12-2 and 17-8 early, the Golden Tigers rallied in the first half despite being down as much as 15 points in the opening frame.
With just over seven minutes to go and down 29-14, Martez Jones (Tuskegee, Ala.) scored in the paint to spark an 8-2 run to pull the score to 31-22 after a floater from newcomer D’Anthony Pennington (Kansas City, Mo.) with just under three minutes left in the half. The two teams later went back and forth until the break, as Union went into the locker rooms leading 36-27.
Tuskegee cut the lead to six at 36-30 to start the second half, however fell victim to another Union run, finding themselves down 11 with just under 16 to play and nine moments later at the first media timeout.
A field goal from Steve Dulley (Kansas City, Mo.) with just under 13 remaining cut the deficit back to six points at 50-44, and the Golden Tigers continued to climb back, eventually trailing by just two points with 10:56 to play. Minutes later, Reco Hallmon (Atlanta, Ga.) sank a long range three to tie the game at 57-57 and hit another on the very next trip for Tuskegee to gain the 60-59 advantage.
Neither team would extend their lead to more than four points to finish the contest, as Pennington continued his strong play in the clutch to help secure the win, leading the way with 22 points, three rebounds and an assist in his Tuskegee debut. Meanwhile, Dulley and Hallmon were also in double figures, with 10 and 19 points respectively, followed by Jones who had a near double-double with nine points and seven rebounds.
Tuskegee 64, Shorter 52
The Golden Tigers never trailed in the game on Saturday against the Hawks, jumping out to a strong 17-2 lead in the first eight minutes of play.
Despite the early lead, Shorter went on a run of their own in response, closing the gap to 17-9 at the 8:46 mark and reduced the lead to just one point with 4:37 to ply at 22-21, and Tuskegee went into the half leading 28-25.
Tuskegee continued to control momentum in the second half, growing a double-digit lead with just over 13 minutes to play at 44-34 after a fast break score from Hallmon. They later stretched the lead to as high as 16 points and continued their strong play, maintaining their double figure lead throughout the remainder of the game.
Pennington led the way again in his second game for the Golden Tigers with 16 points, 5 assists, and three rebounds, while Jones added 14 points and seven rebounds on the day. Deveraux Davis (Minneapolis, Minn.) played a key role inside with 13 points and eight boards, followed by Hallmon who added 11 points in the win.
Tuskegee outperformed Shorter in points off turnovers (21-17), points in the paint, (26-20), and second chance points (15-6), while being outscored by the Hawks in bench points (32-14).
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