Friday 29th March 2024
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UT Martin Men’s Basketball Hangs On For Overtime Win Over Southern Indiana

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By Ryne Rickman, UT Martin Sports Information Director

 

MARTIN, Tenn. – Extraordinary performances out of Jordan Sears and KJ Simon helped the University of Tennessee at Martin stay atop the Ohio Valley Conference men’s basketball standings following an 86-83 overtime win over Southern Indiana.

Sears exploded for a career-high 32 points – eight of which came in overtime – on 11-of-19 shooting and distributed a season-best five assists in 33 minutes. Simon registered his second consecutive double-double (21 points, career-high 12 rebounds) to go along with a career-best five blocked shots, connecting on seven of his 10 field goal tries with a perfect 4-for-4 effort from three-point land.

KK Curry added 13 points and seven rebounds for the Skyhawks, who led for over 33 minutes while holding the Screaming Eagles to 36.5 percent shooting (27-of-74). As a direct result, UT Martin improved to 15-8 overall with a 7-3 OVC record, which is tied with Morehead State and Southeast Missouri for first place in the league race.

Southern Indiana (13-10, 6-4) forced overtime with seven unanswered points in the final 95 seconds of regulation but ultimately saw its five-game winning streak snapped. Jelani Simmons scored a game-high 26 points while Jacob Polakovich accumulated 12 points and 20 rebounds. Trevor Lakes (17 points) and Tyler Henry (12 points) also guided the Screaming Eagles.

“I think Southern Indiana is one of the best teams in the league – they have shooting, scoring, toughness and are very well-coached,” Skyhawk head coach Ryan Ridder said. “For us to come out and find a way to win says a lot about our program and where we’re at right now. Jordan did an unbelievable job on both the offensive and defensive ends – that was one of the better performances I’ve been a part of. KJ and guys like Rifen Miguel, Jalen Myers – if you want to be part of a winning program, you have to be prepared for your opportunity and we had several players step in and play a big role today.”

Neither side would lead by more than one possession over the final 17:44 of the opening half. Parker Stewart sank a three-pointer only 12 seconds into the contest before Sears scored UT Martin’s next seven points.

The Screaming Eagles led 20-17 with a little under seven minutes to go before the halftime break but six unanswered Skyhawk points (two Sears free throws, Curry layup, Simon fast break layup) helped flip the score back in UT Martin’s favor.

After Southern Indiana briefly reclaimed the lead, a Stewart pull-up jumper wrapped up the scoring in the first half and sent both teams to the locker room locked up in a 28-28 tie. Sears and Simmons each recorded team-highs of nine points in the first 20 minutes.

The Skyhawks roared out of the halftime break with an 8-0 run with Sears compiling the first five points. Simon then canned back-to-back three-pointers before throwing down a contested dunk at the 13:49 mark to push UT Martin’s lead out to 47-39.

The Screaming Eagles pulled within two points with 10:37 remaining in regulation but a 10-2 Skyhawk surge – completed by a three-pointer from Simon – provided UT Martin with its biggest lead of the day (61-51) with a little under nine minutes to go in the second half.

Curry (seven) and Sears (four) joined forces to score 11 straight Skyhawk points as UT Martin led 74-67 late in the second half. However, Southern Indiana made its final three shots – including a Lakes trailing three-pointer with 16 seconds to go that tied the contest at 74-74 and would eventually send the game into overtime.

Sears began the extra period with five consecutive Skyhawk points, including an old-fashioned three-point play that boosted UT Martin’s lead to 79-75 with 4:07 to go. The Screaming Eagles responded with four straight points for the 10th and final tie score of the game. The Skyhawks then held Southern Indiana without a field goal for a three-minute span as UT Martin held on to win its third overtime decision inside the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center in 2022-23.

The Skyhawks go on the road for their next three outings, beginning with a Thursday, Feb. 2 matchup at SIUE.

 

Graphic courtesy of UT Martin Sports Information

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