Second half run leads Senators to win over Chattanooga State

Walters State reeled off 14 unanswered points after visiting Chattanooga State cut its lead to one with 15:42 left in the game Saturday afternoon and went on to a 91-64 triumph at Z Buda Gymnasium.

With the victory, Coach Bill Carlyle's Senators are 9-4 for the season and 8-4 in Tennessee Community College Athletic Association action. They are currently in second place in the Eastern Division play and trail Motlow State by a game. Walters State travels to Motlow on Wednesday.

The Tigers suffered their 11th loss in 12 games.

De'Marius Boyd fired through 23 points to lead the Senators. Tyler Haynes registered a double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds and Deovaunta Williams added 13 points. Sly Thompson chipped in nine.

Chattanooga State got 15 from Teahzjawon Harper with Skylar Williams adding 14 and David Ware 13.

The Senators led by as many as 12 points in the first half and 48-39 on a bucket by Boyd with 16:50 left. That's when the Tigers ran off six straight with Harper's basket trimming the lead all the way down to one at 48-47.

Carlyle called a time out and inserted Williams back into the lineup and he responded in a huge way by scoring eight points in the next 1:58 of play.

That ignited the 14-point run that also included a pair of baskets by Haynes. But that wasn't the longest scoring spurt the Senators had on the day.

Chattanooga State had a 6-2 run sparked by two buckets by Jorclay Kaniki to close back within 11 at 64-53 but the Senators poured through 17 straight to turn the game in to a complete rout. Haynes had seven and Boyd five in this uprising.

From there it was just a question of the final margin.

Carlyle, who was honored in a pregame ceremony for his 900th win as Walters State coach said, "In the first half, we couldn't stop their penetration. We did a better job of that and that got us a lead back.

"And then what happens?" he said. "We've got two or three players that just want to shoot the ball and do their thing. Instead of playing as a team, they want to play as individuals. We just had a little session in the locker room about that."

Carlyle continued, "I thought Jermize (Weddle with eight points) came in and gave us some good minutes today. Haynes did a good job for us, too.

"Overall, I thought they did what they needed to do in the second half to stretch the lead back out and maintain it. But we're not going to be playing a 1-11 team Wednesday. We're playing Motlow and we can't play this kind of basketball and win."

There were three ties and a lead change early before the Senators took the lead for good at 12-10 on a steal and layup by Boyd with 15:04 left in the half. It was 17-14 when Boyd had a basket and two free throws to spark an 8-2 run.

The biggest lead of the game came at 37-25 on a bucket by Deng Agoth with 5:05 left in the half. The Tigers cut the spread to 42-34 at halftime and then Kaniki made the first basket of the second period.

It stayed at seven or eight points until Chattanooga's Harper sandwiched baskets around a driving layup by Ware to trim it down to 48-47 and set the stage for the Senators' big scoring run.

Walters State made 40 of 78 field goal attempts for 51.3 percent and finished 5 of 16 on three-point attempts with Boyd the only player with two. The Tigers finished at 26 of 64 for 40.6 percent and made 5 of 22 behind the arc.

With Haynes leading the way and Boyd grabbing seven, the Senators had a 44-32 backboard advantage. Ware pulled down 13 stray shots for Chattanooga State.

Rob Harvey

Walters State Community College

Sports Information Director

Cell: (423) 779-8880

Email: sportsinfo@ws.edu

Website: www.ws.edu/athletics