Senators score triple digits in season-opening win over Tusculum JV

MORRISTOWN, TN – Walters State hit the century mark on Wednesday evening, opening up the season with a 107-52 win over Tusculum JV.

With the win, the Senators move to 1-0 overall.

The game was a good opener for Walters State as they prepare to take on Gaston College and Caldwell CC this weekend in the Senators Tip-Off Classic. 

All 18 players saw action for Walters State on Wednesday night with Michael Houge leading the way with 14 points. Jay Hickman, Bakari Johnson and Wade Pelfrey each added 10 off the bench while Jaylen Wharton and Malachi Hale each had nine. Micah Simpson and Dustin Richmond each had seven points.

"Nice to get everyone a chance to play and was a good tune-up for this weekend," Walters State coach Bill Carlyle said. "That will be good for us because we need to be tested and see what we've got with conference play coming up. I did like what I saw tonight. We had some kids come off the bench and do a nice job. Malachi (Hale) did well, and I thought Wade (Pelfrey) played well, too. Always good to open the season with a win." 

Houge got the first basket of the season as he drained a jump shot to put the Senators up 2-0 just 19 seconds in. Riley Cooper and Ty Hurst then made shots and Houge added two more free throws to make it 8-2. A driving layup by Houge gave him two more, and he was fouled on the play and converted the free throw as the Senators led, 11-4.

Houge had one more bucket on his 7-0 run to make it a nine-point game before Simpson scored his first points as a Senator, and it was 15-4. The first 3-pointer of the season came from Hale that made it 18-6 before back-to-back layups by Gum Majak got the lead to 17. 

From there, the Senators let their bench go to work as Hale made another shot and Johnson had a layup. Richmond and Pelfrey went on a 9-0 run after that to make it 39-13. The starters entered back in to end the half and Houge added five more points. An Elijah Davis layup with 17 seconds left gave Walters State a 50-25 lead at the half. Houge had 14 points at the break.

In the second half, it was more of the same from Walters State as they tallied 57 more points. Wharton had four quick points to open up the half before Davis hit a layup. Wharton added five more points after that to make the score 63-36. 

Izaiha Bredwood scored his first points of the season later on to make it 70-36 and added two more a few minutes later. A Simpson 3-pointer pushed the lead to 40 at 84-44.

The Senators dominated from there as Johnson added a few more points, as did Pelfrey. Johnson made a layup with 20 seconds left to end the game with the 107-52 victory. 

Up Next:

Walters State returns to action on Friday as they host Gaston College in the Senators Tip-Off Classic. Tip is scheduled for 6 p.m. 

If you are not able to attend a game this season, all home games will be streamed at https://www.wsccathletics.com/information/Gamestream. You can also find the link on our website underneath the Fan Zone tab. 

Rob Harvey

Walters State Community College

Sports Information Director

Cell: (423) 779-8880

Email: sportsinfo@ws.edu

Website: www.ws.edu/athletics