Auburn Times

Tuskegee entered the 2023 TIAA SIAC Men's Basketball Tournament presented by Cricket with designs on earning the school's first league title since 2014. But Thursday evening at Tiger Arena, the West Division's top-seeded team was unable to find its way past its opening round contest.

The Golden Tigers (20-8) held a double-digit lead in the first half but was blitzed at the start of the second half by a Kentucky State team it defeated by more than 20 points last week. The fifth-seeded Thorobreds (14-12) built their own double-digit advantage in the second half and pulled off the big upset, earning an 81-67 win and ending the Golden Tigers' season. 

Tuskegee found itself down early before finding its footing midway through the first half. Down by a point, the Golden Tigers ran off 10 straight as part of an 18-1 run to take the lead. Deveraux Davis started the run with an emphatic two-handed slam as he filled the lane on the break. He followed it with a 3-ball that increased the lead. Gregg Boyd followed with a three-point play and Steve Dulley closed the run with a bucket for a 30-21 advantage. 

The lead was as large as 11 points in the first half but the Golden Tigers settled for a 38-29 lead at the half. But when Kentucky State came out to start the second half, Tuskegee was caught flat-footed. The Thorobreds scored the first 20 points of the period, hitting shots from all over the court in grabbing control of the game. Montreal Jacobs, who was saddled with early foul trouble in the first half, came out firing from downtown to light the pilot before a full four-alarm fire ensued. By the time he had drained his sixth triple of the contest, KSU had taken a 65-50 lead with 6:49 remaining. 

Tuskegee tried to work back into the contest, getting to within seven points on a couple of occasions. But after Devin Booker knocked down a 3-pointer with just over a minute to go to cut the deficit to 74-67, the Golden Tigers did not score another point as KSU closed out the victory. 

Jacobs scored 24 points, Jalon Andrews added 15 points; and Kong Kong and Jay Murrell each had 14 for Kentucky State. Booker had 15 points, Davis had 13 points, and D'Anthony Pennington added 10 points for the Golden Tigers. 

Original source can be found here.