Men’s game recap
by Joel Gray
Clarksdale, MS—The 12-7 SAU Tech Rockets’ road-trip rematch with the 5-10 Tigers of Coahoma Community College resulted in the end of their 6-game winning streak and a series split with the Division-I Mississippi junior college opponent. The first-year Division-II Tech team from East Camden, AR had opened the season (back on 11/2) by defeating Coahoma, 69-61, for their first-ever victory, but they could not repeat that performance Thursday night (1/24) when over half of their field goals missed the mark, leaving the Tigers to take the win this time around by the score of 89-79.
Coach Marty Levinson’s Rocket men did, however, leap to an early 7-point lead by three minutes after tip-off. But the 16:56 mark saw the extent of that advantage, even though Tech toughed- it-out to hold on to a 4-point lead by halftime, 41-37. Second-half misses, however, took their toll, allowing the Tigers to outscore Tech by 14 points, tallying up the 10-point margin of victory for the host team.
Coahoma improved to 6-10 with the win, with six Tigers putting double-digits on the board. Dequan Morris led his team with 21 points. Kendall Richardson also found the mark for five 3- pointers.
SAU Tech suffered its first loss since the Christmas break, falling to 12-8 on the year, though each of those losses have come at the hands of Division-I competition. In the rematch with Coahoma, despite the Rockets’ shooting woes, they were still able to record five players in double-digit scoring. Region 2 points leader, Sheldon Steven and teammate, Malik Miller both led Tech with 16 apiece. They were followed by Jaland Mitchell and Mike McAllister-Boatright, who each had 13 points to their credit. And right behind was Will Bynum with a 12-point tally. Steven and Boatright also combined for four 3-pointers apiece as well. Nevertheless, it was not enough, and the Rockets went down for the first time on the 2019 side of the schedule.
Next up for the Rocket men is a home game against the Mid-South Prep Wildcats, Saturday (1/26), at Shaddock Fieldhouse in Camden, AR. Tip-off is set for 6 pm.