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NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Panther men's basketball team overcame a 19-point deficit to get within four with under a minute left on the clock, but Tennessee State held on for a 67-59 win on Saturday night at the Gentry Center.
 
After trailing by as much as 19 points with 16:30 left in the game, the Panthers battled back in the second half to get within four (63-59) with 23 seconds on the clock. EIU outscored the Tigers (7-7, 1-0 OVC) by five in the second half, 40-35. The Panthers also connected on 62 percent of their field-goal attempts in the second stanza to engineer the comeback, going 13-for-21 from the field.
 
Tennessee State jumped out to an early 15-3 lead by draining its first six shot attempts of the game. The Tigers finished the first half going 11-for-21 from the floor to take a 32-19 advantage into the locker room.
 
Alex Austin paced the Panther offense with 18 points on 6-for-9 shooting. Taylor Jones also added a career high 14 points, going 5-for-10 from the floor and 4-for-8 from behind the arc. Austin Akers dished out a game-high six assists in the loss.
 
EIU finished the day hitting 43.2 percent of its field goal attempts while going 14-for-19 from the charity stripe. TSU connected on 55 percent if its shot attempts on the night (22-for-40).
 
The Tigers outrebounded the Panthers by seven (31-24) with Josh Piper leading EIU with five rebounds. Kellen Thornton led the Tigers with a game-high 10 rebounds.
 
Patrick Miller led TSU with 28 points as the junior guard went 7-for-8 from the floor and a perfect 11-for-11 from the foul line. Thornton added 16 points while Jordan Cyphers chipped in 14.
 
The Panthers return to action at Eastern Kentucky on Jan. 3 at 7 p.m.