Tennessee St. pulls away late, beats NAIA Fisk 67-53

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Christian Mekowulu scored 16 points while pulling down a career-high 18 rebounds to lead Tennessee State to a 67-53 victory over NAIA's Fisk on Tuesday night.

Delano Spencer added 12 points and Kamar McKnight came off the bench to score 11 points for Tennessee State (4-2) which has won three straight.

The Tigers never trailed but Fisk stayed close until the final minutes when Tennessee State pulled away for the win. The Tigers pushed their advantage to 41-25 with 12:56 left in the game. Fisk's Ryainni Scott and Addison Miller combined for 14 unanswered points to close to 44-39. El Paso Pitts drilled a trey and Fisk trailed 50-47 with 6:32 remaining.

McKnight and Spencer hit back-to-back 3-pointers to pull away with 2:30 left.

The Tigers, who hit just two more field goals than Fisk, made 22 free throws compared to Fisk's nine.

Miller led Fisk with 11 points.