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Tennessee State recorded their third straight win, handing Eastern Illinois a 65-61 loss at Lantz Arena on Saturday afternoon. The Tigers got off to a good start, going into halftime with a 28-25 lead. They then continued to outscore the Panthers 37-36 in the second half to come away with the victory.
Zion Griffin scored 23 points to lead the way for Tennessee State. That performance included an impressive 15 points in the second half to ignite the team down the stretch. Tennessee State’s offense as a whole came out of the break with new energy. The team shot 41% from the field in the second half, scoring 1.01 points per possession. This was a big improvement from the team’s 35% shooting and 0.89 points per possession in the first half.
Caleb Donaldson scored 17 points while dishing out five assists to lead the way for Eastern Illinois. As a team, the Panthers shot 24-of-65 from the field and 2-of-11 from three. Their shooting was part of larger offensive struggles that contributed to the loss. Eastern Illinois only mustered 0.86 points per possession on 42% true shooting.
Both teams face their next test on February 10. Tennessee State takes on Southeast Missouri State in a conference clash, while Eastern Illinois squares off with UT Martin. The Tigers will look to continue their solid play in their return home. On the other side, the Panthers will get a shot to recover from this loss.
This content was produced using Artificial Intelligence technology before being approved and published by HBCU Gameday. Sam Quick is a moniker for our AI technology and is not an actual person.