A slow start doomed SIUE Wednesday in the first round of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament at the Ford Center. The Cougars dropped a 77-62 decision to Tennessee State.
SIUE ends its season at 11-21. Tennessee State moves on to face fourth-seeded Southeast Missouri on Thursday.
The Cougars missed their first eight field goals and connected on just one of their first 18 attempts.
"The start of the game affected us," SIUE Head Coach Brian Barone said. "We dug a big hole. It got them rolling and got us on our heels a little bit."
Tennessee State built its lead to as many as 23 points (32-9). SIUE outscored TSU 21-10 to finish the half to trail 42-28 at the break. SIUE hit 14 of 16 free throws in the first half.
"I knew there was going to be fight," Barone said of his team. "There is always going to be fight with these young men."
SIUE knocked down the first bucket in the second half, but it didn't come until nearly 2 ½ minutes into the half, when Shamar Wright scored on a driving layup with 17:38 to play.
"It was time to take care of business and stick to what we have done," Barone said of his halftime message.
Back-to-back baskets put the Tigers up 16 (46-30) at 16:51. SIUE used an 11-2 run from that point to cut the lead to 48-41 with 13:09 left, but TSU quickly extended the lead back to double digits. The Cougars trimmed the lead back to seven at 60-53 with 6:37 left, but TSU answered with a 7-0 run of its own.
"We cut it to seven twice," Barone said. "We just couldn't get that last stop of make the play to get it to five or six. I give credit to Tennessee State they made the plays they needed to make."
Shaun Doss, Jr. turned his second double-double of the year with 16 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Cougars. It was his 20th game this season scoring in double figures.
"I was like a sponge, I just tried to absorb everything from the coaches because a lot of stuff was new to me," Doss said of his first year in an SIUE uniform. "As far as the league it is a physical league. There are a lot of good teams."
Shamar Wright finished with 12 points. He scored in double figures in the final eight games of the year.
"The team as a whole just wanted to win," Wright said of the end of the season. "I've been here for a long time and I was one of the guys that needed to step up."
DeeJuan Pruitt scored 11 points. Courtney Carter and Lamar Wright each scored nine points.
Cam Williams scored three points, and finished his SIUE career at 789 points, good for 29th on the school's career scoring list.
SIUE hit 16-54 (30 percent) for the game. The Cougars were 4-18 (22 percent) from three-point range and drained 26 of 31 free throw attempts. The 26 free throws are a season high and also a program high for an OVC Tournament game.
Shakem Johnson scored 22 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead Tennessee State, which outrebounded SIUE 44-36.
The Cougars turned the ball over 17 times, leading to 20 Tennessee State points. SIUE scored 13 points off 15 Tennessee State turnovers.
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