BOX SCORE

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee Tech quarterback Bailey Fisher hit David Gist for a two-point conversion in double overtime to lift the Golden Eagles to a 59-58 win in a shootout with Samford Saturday night at Tucker Stadium.
 
In the second overtime, Samford's Chris Oladokun connected with Chris Shelling for a 25-yard touchdown pass to give the Bulldogs a 58-51 lead. On Tennessee Tech's ensuing  possession, Andre Goldsmith scored on a 14-yard run, and Fisher's two-point conversion won the game for the Golden Eagles.
 
With Samford leading, 44-28 in the fourth quarter, Tennessee Tech scored a pair of late touchdowns with two-point conversions to force overtime. Fisher hit Justin Oden for a 12-yard score on the first touchdown, and then he connected with Oden for the conversion with 1:18 to go. After Tech recovered an on-side kick, the second touchdown came on Fisher's eight-yard run with 31 seconds left. Fisher then ran in the two-point conversion to tie the game and force overtime.
 
In the first overtime, Tennessee Tech scored on a six-yard run by Fisher. Oladokun then hit Shelling for a 25-yard score to send the game to the second overtime period.
 
For Samford in the game, Oladokun completed 19-of-24 passes for a career-high 428 yards and six touchdowns. Oladokun also rushed for 42 yards and another touchdown. He tied school records for touchdown passes with six and touchdowns responsible for with seven. The touchdown passes record was set by Jimbo Fisher in 1987 and tied by Devlin Hodges in 2018. The touchdowns responsible for mark was set by Hodges last season against both VMI and Western Carolina.
 
Shelling caught seven passes for 185 yards and four touchdowns. Kendall Watson caught four passes for 87 yards and a touchdown. Yassar El-Amin caught one pass for an 80-yard score.
 
The Samford defense was led by Nathan East with 12 tackles, including five solo stops. Lamar Anderson followed with 11 tackles, including five solo tackles. Mitchell Fineran was good on all three of his field goal attempts, making kicks from 37, 40 and 18 yards.
 
For Tennessee Tech Fisher completed 31-of-44 passes for 415 yards and two touchdowns. Austin Hicks caught five passes for 118 yards, while Darrius Stafford had seven catches for 110 yards.
 
Tennessee Tech got on the scoreboard first when Metrius Fleming scored on a 66-yard run to give the Golden Eagles a 7-0 lead with 13:47 to go in the first quarter. Tech's Haidar Zaidan kicked a 24-yard field goal to push the Golden Eagles' lead to 10-0 with 6:37 left in the first quarter. TTU's Henry Karimu then sacked Samford starting quarterback Liam Welch in the end zone for a safety, making the score 12-0 with 6:04 left in the opening period.
 
Samford put its first points on the board when Oladokun hit Watson for a 35-yard touchdown to cut the TTU lead to 12-7 with 1:21 to go in the first quarter. On Samford's first second-quarter drive, Oladokun hit El-Amin for an 80-yard touchdown to give Samford a 14-12 lead with 13:09 left before halftime.
 
Samford's Fineran kicked a 37-yard field goal to push the Bulldogs' lead to 17-12 with 8:59 left in the second quarter. Oladokun then hit Shelling for a 64-yard touchdown pass with 4:36 to go before halftime to make the score 24-12.
 
On the first drive of the third quarter, Oladokun scored on a nine-yard run to make the score 31-12 with 12:27 to go in the third quarter. Tech's Zaidan booted a 32-yard field goal with 8:09 to go in the third quarter to cut the Samford lead to 31-15. Oladokun then hit Shelling for a 30-yard touchdown pass to make the score 38-15 with 6:17 to go in the third quarter. TTU's  Fisher scored on a three-yard run to cut the Samford lead to 38-22 with just 51 seconds to go in the third period.
 
Fineran kicked a 40-yard field goal to increase Samford's lead to 41-22 with 13:06 left in the fourth quarter. Fisher connected with Tavin Kilpatrick for a three-yard touchdown with 7:51 to go, but the two-point conversion was no good, leaving Samford's lead at 41-28. Fineran added an 18-yard field goal for Samford to make the score 44-28 with 2:20 to go in the game, setting the stage for Tennessee Tech's late comeback.
 
Samford (0-2) will take the next week off from competition before opening the Southern Conference schedule at Wofford on Sept. 14. That game is scheduled for a 5 p.m. (CT) start from Spartanburg, S.C.