WILBERFORCE, Ohio __ Tuskegee's defensive identity was on display once again on Saturday afternoon on the road, winning its third straight game by defeating Central State, 67-57, inside the Beacom-Lewis Gymnasium.
TU (13-13, 12-7 SIAC) managed to hold Central State (3-23, 2-14 SIAC) to just 37.9 percent shooting from the field while also forcing nine turnovers, including a pair of steals and blocking three shots in the win.
Two of those steals came courtesy of junior guard
D'Anthony Pennington who added 11 points on the offensive end. Two of the three blocks came from
Kusamae Draper and
Martez Jones, with Draper finishing with a game-high 21 points and seven rebounds, while Jones put up another double-double with 13 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.
Kevin Sesberry, who was the fourth Golden Tiger in double figures with ten points, went 5-of-9 from the floor along with four rebounds.
Of the 34 combined points from the two forwards, 21 points came down the stretch in the second half. The solid second half helped TU gain the biggest lead of the ball game at 14. After trailing 30-27 at the half, the Golden Tigers outscored CSU 40-27 in the second to secure the win.
Central State came out with a strong start, gaining a 9-5 early lead at the first media break, and retaining a one-point edge at the under 12 timeout by a score of 13-12. After trailing by five again with just under six to play, Tuskegee battled back, going on an 8-2 run over the next two minutes of action, gaining a 26-25 lead at the final break at the 3:47 mark, before CSU closed the half with a three-point lead.
Tuskegee dominated the second half, going up 31-30 at the first media timeout and leading for more than 18 of the 20 minutes of play. From there on, TU went on a 21-8 run to gain a 52-38 lead, before closing out the road win.
TU held the Marauders to just 31 percent (9-for-29) from the floor and 8.3 percent (1-for-12) from long range, compared to 51.7 percent (15-for-29) from the field and 25 percent (2-for-8) from three for the Golden Tigers.
Zavian Jackson led a trio of double figure scorers for Central State with 18 points, followed by Willie Jackson with 12 and Steven Key II with 11 in the loss.
Up Next
Tuskegee wraps up the two-game road swing and the regular season against Kentucky State inside the William Exum Center on Monday, Feb. 26, at 7:30 p.m. ET.
How to Follow the Golden Tigers: For complete information on Tuskegee Golden Tigers Men's Basketball, visit
GoldenTigerSports.com and follow the team's social media channels on
Twitter,
Instagram and
Facebook.
