TOP SEED COLUMBIA MOVES INTO SEMIS, ROANE, PELLISSIPPI, WALTERS ALSO ADVANCE

 On quarterfinal day of the TCCAA/NJCAA Region VII Tournament, Top-seeded Columbia State was able to fight off a resilient Jackson State team by a 75-66 score.  Fifth seeded Roane State was able to revenge two regular season losses over #4 seed Chattanooga State with a 96-76 win. it was an upset in the third game as #7 seed Pellissippi State scored the fional eight points in a 74-69 win over #2 seed Volunteer State.  Walters State was able to secure a spot in the semifinals with a 76-62 final.

Columbia built as big as a ten point lead in the first half when they led 23-13 midway through the first twenty minutes, but Jackson would claw their way back into the game to trail only 432-39 at the break.  The contest stayed close through most of the second half, but Columbia would forge ahead by 7 points (57-50) with nine minutes to play.  Jackson would fight back and take a brief lead at 58-57 six and half minutes to play.  The Chargers would take the lead back and would maintain the lead through the rest of the game.

The Chargers had three players reach double figures, led by Mahki Wright who had 20 points and a team high 13 rebounds.  Thaddeus Johnson was next with 17 points, seven rebounds, four assists,  and a team high two steals.  Simeon Williams would be the third scorer with double digits  as he finished with 16 points.  Taveon Comage had a team high five assists.  For the Greenjays, they also had three scorers reach double figures.  Leading the way was Rodgerick Robinson, Jr. with 20 points. Next was Jamarion Harvey with 14 points and Jamarion Anderson with 12.  Both led the team in assists with four apiece.  Jerry Taylor Jr. had a team high 13 rebounds and three assists.   

In the se3cond game, Chattanooga jumped out early to tka 3e a 7 point lead five minutes into the game.  Roane would come back to take a leadc they would never relinquish.  A flurry at the end of the half pushed Roane's lead 19 at 51-32 at the intermission.  Roane would see their lead grow to as mucbefor eRh as 31 with 11:50 to go in the contest before Chattanooga would make a run to cut it down to 16 Roane would close it down at the end.

Thgew Raiders would finish with four scorers in double figures led by Jhiem Berry with 27 points.  He would have seven rebounds to with a team high five assists.  Marcus Black would be next with 26 points. Jordan Hmilton would score 18 points and four assists in the game.  Walter Campbell would finish with 16 points and four assists.  Black, Hamilton, Berry, and Campbell all had 3 steals in the game.  The Tigers finished with 3 scorers in double figures.  Nicholas Jones-Hill topped all scorers with 19 points.  Odell Bradley IV had 18 points and a team high five rebounds.  Yerald Mieses finished with 11 points and a team high five steals.  Tyree Smith led the team with four assists followed by Mieses and Bradley with three apiece. 

In the third game, Volunteer State held a 69-66 lead late in the game, but went scoreless as Pellissippi went on an 8-0 run to close out the victory.  Both squads went on runs in the first half before Volunteer would close out the half qwith a 38-34 lead.  They would  stretch it to eight early in the second half, but the Panthers would slowly come back until taking advantage down the stretch.  In the game, there were 15 lead changes and the score was a rie 11 times during the contest.

For the Panthers, they had three scorersw reach double figures in the game.  They were led by DeShun Pyton who came off the bench to score 29 points with a team high seven rebounds.  Jojo Lyles was next with 14 points.  Matthew Sharpe was the last double digit scorer with 11 points.  Tony MxDaniel had a team high six assists as well as five steals.  For the Pioneers, Jalen Hardaway led the way with 23 points.  Lavonta Ivery was the only other scorer in double digits with 17 points.  Taylor Groves led the team with 11 rebounds, and he shared team honors with Willie Wilson with four assists.  Wilson led the team with six steals.

In the final game of the evening, Walters State built an early lead in the first half that they would never relinquish.  They led 34-22 at the ned of the first half and built that lead to 22 points at the 11:45 mark of the second half.   The Senators were able to build their lead by creating 21 points off of Saluquis turnovers.

WAlters had four scorers reach double figures led by Da'Mori Lytcxh with 13 points to go with a team high three steals.  Charvez Ambrose, Anthony Davis Jr., and Aiden Goins each scored 12 points in the win.  Davis Jr. led the team with seven rebounds while five Senators each had two assists.  The Saluquis saw three players reach double figures.  Jean YVens LeFleur led the way with 18 poijnts and a team high six rebounds.  Alex Vandebergh was next with 12 points and five rebounds.  Tyson Jones was the finasl digit scorer with 11 points.  Vandenburgh had a team high 4 assists in the contest.