NW Tennessee News

The University of Tennessee at Martin's home winning streak reached nine games after the Skyhawks earned an 87-82 victory over Southeast Missouri in Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball action.
           
UT Martin (10-6, 2-1 OVC) never trailed and led by as many as 19 points with under nine minutes to play but were forced to withstand a Redhawk rally. Southeast Missouri pulled within a single possession (84-82) with 45 seconds to go before Koby Jeffries and Parker Stewart combined to swish three free throws inside the final 23 seconds to officially seal the win.
           
Stewart (25 points, five rebounds and game-high four assists) and KK Curry (15 points, game-high 13 rebounds for his second consecutive double-double) paved the way for the Skyhawks this evening. KJ Simon added 11 points while Jeffries tied a season-high with 11 points thanks to a 9-of-10 effort from the free throw line. Jordan Sears provided 10 points while Chris Nix (nine points, eight rebounds, career-high three steals) and Desmond Williams (six points, three assists) completed the scoring for UT Martin.
           
The Skyhawks shot an even 50 percent (26-of-52) from the floor and made 30 free throws (in 38 tries) for the first time since Jan. 24, 2011 at SIUE – a span of 369 games. In the process, UT Martin extended its NCAA Division I record with its ninth straight home win to open the 2022-23 season and owns its longest home winning streak since nine consecutive victories from Dec. 31, 2016 through Nov. 15, 2017.
           
Phillip Russell generated a game-high 28 points with four assists, four steals and three rebounds to navigate the Redhawks. Israel Barnes (14 points) and Chris Harris (12 points) also produced notable scoring efforts for Southeast Missouri (6-10, 1-2 OVC), who made 13 three-pointers but were held to 39.5 percent shooting (30-of-76) overall.
           
"Tonight was OVC play at its finest – you think you're pulling away a little bit and we had to make it interesting down the stretch," Skyhawk head coach Ryan Ridder said. Koby made some big free throws late – there's a reason why he's a sophomore that was voted team captain. He's a winner, the guys trust him and he's so mature – he started 30 games and averaged 30 minutes per game last year. He's been asked to take on a different role this year and he has thrived." 

An early 9-0 UT Martin run gave the Skyhawks a 14-5 advantage, capped off with a Curry layup at the 14:44 mark of the first half. Another layup from Curry kept UT Martin's lead at eight points (21-13) with 10:47 to go in the opening half but the Redhawks responded with eight unanswered points to even the score at 21-all.
           
The Skyhawks scored 18 of the next 24 points over a stretch of 3:58. That surge was completed when Stewart flushed a two-handed fast break dunk to increase UT Martin's lead out to 39-27 with 4:43 remaining before the halftime break.
           
After Southeast Missouri got back within four points, a Curry dunk and two Stewart free throws made the score 44-36 in favor of the Skyhawks at the intermission.
           
Stewart was responsible for a game-high 13 points in the first half while Barnes' 10 points off the bench guided the Redhawks.
           
Early in the second half, UT Martin went on a 14-2 run to open up a 60-42 advantage with 13:43 left to play. Nix (five) and Simon (four) joined forces for nine points during an extended run that lasted 3:51.
           
Stewart posted nine straight Skyhawk points before a Williams triple gave UT Martin its biggest lead of the night (72-53) with 8:51 to go.
           
Southeast Missouri managed a 29-12 run to trim its deficit down to 84-82 with 45 seconds left to play. That would be the Redhawks' final points of the contest as Jeffries calmly buried a pair of free throws and Stewart added another successful attempt from the charity stripe to ice the victory.
           
The Skyhawks round out a three-game homestand on Saturday, Jan. 7 when they host in-state OVC foe Tennessee Tech. Tipoff from the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center is set for 3:30 p.m. as the backend of a doubleheader with the women's basketball squad.

Original source can be found here