Tennessee State head coach Travis Williams stressed taking good shots in practice during the week, and it showed, as the Tigers shot 51 percent (26-51) from the field and 79.4 percent (27-34) from the charity stripe.
TSU won the tip and Covington got off to a quick start, nailing his first shot of the game- a long three-pointer. Alabama A&M ran down the floor and countered with a jumper, beginning a fast-paced first half in which neither side took a timeout.
Covington continued to lead the Tigers on offense and scored seven of TSU's first eight points of the game. He finished the half with a team-high 14 points.
Covington may have been leading the charge, but Tennessee State also got strong first half play from Cyphers and Thornton.
Starting from the 15:43 mark, Cyphers canned six straight points for the Tigers during a one-minute span. Cypher's scoring flurry gave the Tigers a 14-8 lead.
Thornton, meanwhile, had eight points for the Tigers during the opening stanza on 4-7 shooting.
TSU finished the first half on a 9-2 run that started with 3:38 to go and led at the break, 39-31.
Both teams shot well from the field during the period, as TSU was 15-27 (55.6 percent) while Alabama A&M shot 14-27 (51.9 percent).
TSU came out of the gates with gusto, and eventually led by 13 when Thornton converted a layup with 17:27 left in the game.
The Tigers kept up the pressure and Miller nailed a jumper at the 8:52 mark to give the squad a 20-point cushion- its largest of the game.
Miller finished the game with 16 points on 4-9 shooting.
Alabama A&M whittled down the lead for the rest of the game, but couldn't get back within seven of the Tigers, and TSU walked away with an 83-72 victory.
Tennessee State had eight players finish with at least 15 minutes played.
Hear Williams's thoughts on the game, below:
The Tigers will go for three straight wins when they take on the Drexel Dragons at home on Tuesday night at 7 p.m.
--TSU Tigers--
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