The Tennessee Tech men’s basketball team has officially begun their 2024 season under head coach John Pelphrey.
The Golden Eagles opened up the year on Nov. 4 with the Georgia Bulldogs on the road in Athens, Georgia. The game remained close throughout, but in the end, the Bulldogs prevailed 83-78.
Senior guard Mekhi Cameron (1) led the Golden Eagles in scoring with 21 points, finishing 7-for-11 from the field in his first game as a Golden Eagle.
Junior forward Rodney Johnson Jr. (5) got it done in the trenches, finishing with seven rebounds to go along with 12 points in the contest.
Tech was then able to return home to the Hooper Eblen Center last Thursday on Nov. 7 to take on Bryan College in the home opener.
The final score was 89-74 in favor of the Golden Eagles after an impressive performance from Rodney Johnson Jr., who finished with a team-high 27 points in what was also a career-high for Johnson.
Along with Johnson, junior forward Daniel Egbuniwe (0) finished with 22 points, five rebounds and five assists.
Junior guard Jaylon Johnson (3) led the team in both rebounds and assists. The six-foot guard from Houston, Texas, finished with six rebounds and nine assists.
Johnson has been an early standout for this Golden Eagles squad, transferring in from the College of Southern Idaho.
The Golden Eagles had an impressive second half, especially offensively, outscoring Bryan College 52-41.
Head coach John Pelphrey spoke post-game on the offensive adjustments the team had to make going into the second half.
“We had to adjust in terms of the way we were thinking about and approaching our offense…We didn’t really give ourselves a chance to break their defense down, try to punch it in the paint, or even get to the free throw line [in the first half]. The second half, obviously, was a little bit different.”
Tech then hosted West Georgia on Nov. 12, winning 76-73 to improve to 2-1 on the year.
Daniel Egbuniwe led the way in scoring with 18 points to go along with his seven rebounds on the night.
Tech led 45-30 at the half, but had to battle till the very last minute to fend off the West Georgia comeback. In the end, it was effort, as coach Pelphrey mentioned post-game, that was the key factor to the win.
“There was, maybe, some toughness plays, there was some extra effort plays. I didn’t think our quality of play was very good, probably from the 10 minute mark on.”
The team will then travel to White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, to compete in the Greenbrier Tip-Off tournament this Friday and Saturday.
Conference play opens up for the Golden Eagles on Dec. 17 as they travel to Western Illinois.
Currently sitting at 2-1 overall, with a close loss on the road to a power-four, SEC opponent in the Georgia Bulldogs, this basketball team has shown promise early on.
With that being said, Coach Pelphrey still sees much more room for improvement.
“The biggest challenge for us right now is on the defensive end of the floor. We’ve got to find some consistency, we’ve got to find some communication, we’ve got to find some leadership.”
This is something that the Golden Eagles will have plenty of time to fix before the conference schedule opens up, but it is just nice to know that basketball season is back in full swing again.
Rodney Johnson Jr. was asked about the feeling of being back on the court after the conclusion of the offseason: “Oh man it’s a relief man. It’s a blessing, you know, to go out there and be with my guys and compete…this is what I love and breathe to do, you know, and I’m just grateful to be able to have the opportunity to go out there and do that again tonight.”
Johnson, who was awarded OVC player of the week for his performances against Georgia and Bryan College, will look to play a big role on the court this year for the Golden Eagles with his two-way abilities on both offense and defense.
