Tennessee St. 80, Belmont 69

Updated: Feb 14, 2014, 11:12 pm

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Robert Covington had a game-high 25 points on 7-of-9 shooting and Kellen Thornton added his eighth double-double of the season as Tennessee State beat Belmont 80-69 Thursday night in an Ohio Valley Conference game.

Thornton finished with 18 points and a game-high 10 rebounds helping Tennessee State (15-11, 9-4) outrebound Belmont 35-30.

Patrick Miller added 15 points and Jordan Cyphers scored 10 for the Tigers, who improved to 10-0 at home for the first time since 1992-93.

After Tennessee State led 63-59 with fewer than 4 minutes to go, the Tigers raised their lead to seven behind Miller's layup with just under 2 minutes to play.

The Tigers converted all eight of their free throws to close out the game.

Belmont was held to a season-low 19.2 percent (5 of 26) from behind the arc.

Kerron Johnson and Trevor Noack led Belmont (20-6, 11-2) with 16 points apiece.