Tennessee Tech pulls away late, beats Eastern Kentucky 77-69

Dec 31, 2017, 02:33 am

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. -- Aleksa Jugovic scored 28 points and Tennessee Tech pulled away late to beat Eastern Kentucky 77-69 on Saturday night.

Jugovic made two 3-pointers and had a steal and dunk as part of a 7-4 spurt to give the Golden Eagles a 59-52 lead with six minutes left. Nick Mayo answered with a layup and Dedric Boyd hit a 3 to pull Eastern Kentucky to 59-57 before Tennessee Tech closed on an 18-12 surge. Curtis Phillips Jr. scored nine points, including 7-of-8 shooting from the line, and Jugovic chipped in five points during the stretch.

Jugovic made 5 of his 10 field goals from long range, and made all three of his free throws. Mason Ramsey added 18 points and Phillips finished with 14 for Tennessee Tech (10-5, 2-0 Ohio Valley Conference). Courtney Alexander II matched a career-high with 15 rebounds.

Mayo scored 26 points to lead Eastern Kentucky (6-9, 0-2). Boyd and DeAndre Dishman added 12 points.