EVANSVILLE, Ind. — Antoine Lorick III scored 18 points to help Tennessee State beat Morehead State 93-67 on Saturday night to win the Ohio Valley Conference men’s basketball tournament, clinching an automatic berth to the NCAA Division I tournament that will mark the first March Madness appearance for the Tigers in more than three decades.
Tennessee State — under first-year coach Nolan Smith, who helped Duke win the 2010 national championship as a player — secured an invitation to the Big Dance for the first time since 1994. The Tigers lost in the first round as a No. 14 seed that season, a year after losing in the first round as a No. 15 seed in their only other appearance in the D-I tournament.
The Tigers made seven NCAA Division II tournament appearances from 1967-75. Before that, the Nashville program won three consecutive national championships in the NAIA tournament from 1957-59.
In Saturday’s OVC final, Travis Harper II scored 17 points for the Tigers while shooting 6-for-9, including 5-for-7 from 3-point range. Dante Harris went 6-of-20 from the field (4-for-8 from 3-point range) to finish with 16 points for Tennessee State (23-9).
George Marshall led the way for the Eagles (19-12) with 17 points, Davion Cunningham added 12 with seven rebounds, and Anouar Mellouk also scored 12. The loss snapped Morehead State’s six-game winning streak.
Tennessee State took the lead for good a little more than three minutes into the game, and it was 55-34 at halftime, with Harris racking up 16 points. Tennessee State pulled away with a 12-2 run in the second half to extend an 18-point lead to 28 points.
The Tigers outscored Morehead State by five points in the final half, when Lorick led the way with a team-high 13 points over the final 20 minutes.
Tennessee State will learn its seed and opponent for the NCAA tourney when the entire 68-team field and bracket are revealed next Sunday.