SKYHAWK MEN’S BASKETBALL REMAINS PERFECT AT HOME WITH 108-79 TRIUMPH OVER BRESCIA

Saturday, December 15

Martin, Tenn.

7:30 P.M.

UT Martin

4-4

108

Brescia

6-7

Brescia

UT Martin

108

SKYHAWK MEN’S BASKETBALL REMAINS PERFECT AT HOME WITH 108-79 TRIUMPH OVER BRESCIA

12/15/2018 10:56:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score PDF Boxscore Photo Gallery Postgame Press Conference

MARTIN, Tenn. – All 10 University of Tennessee at Martin men's basketball players who saw playing time tonight scored as the Skyhawks coasted to a 108-79 victory over Brescia in a "Stuttering Awareness Game" at the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center.

Tonight's contest raised awareness for stuttering, as the UT Martin coaching staff wore lapel pins that were provided by the National Stuttering Association.

The Skyhawks evened its record to 4-4 by connecting on a season-best 58.8 percent (40-of-68) of its shot attempts. UT Martin also equaled a season-high with 21 free throws while shooting 80.8 percent from the charity stripe.

Derek Hawthorne, Jr. collected the Skyhawks' first double-double of the season with career-highs of 24 points and 10 rebounds. The junior guard out of Indianapolis, Ind. sank 10 of his 14 field goal tries while also chipping in three assists and two steals in 31 minutes for UT Martin.

Fatodd Lewis (season-highs of 23 points and nine rebounds) and Preston Parks (eight points, career-best 11 assists, six rebounds and three steals) barely missed out on double-doubles this evening. Making his first start of the season, Charles Henderson, Jr. tallied 12 points while Quintin Dove added 10 points (with a career-high three blocks) to round out the Skyhawks' double-digit scorers.

A NAIA program from Owensboro, Ky., Brescia (6-7) was led by Kayode Daboiku's 12 points while Noah Cunningham accumulated 11 points. UT Martin nearly doubled up the visiting Bearcats on the glass (49-25) and also held a 62-24 edge on points in the paint.

"I thought we made some progress as a team defensively," Skyhawk head coach Anthony Stewart said. "That was our focus and that's what we worked a great deal on this week. Anybody can score on our team, we are just looking for five guys who want to defend 40 minutes a night."

The Bearcats came out hot, making seven of their first nine 3-pointers to take a 31-25 advantage nine minutes into the outing. UT Martin clamped down defensively and put together a 24-6 run over a near eight-minute stretch to go ahead by a 49-37 margin. The Skyhawks stretched their lead out to 58-40 at the break after an old-fashioned three-point play by Hawthorne concluded the first half scoring. Hawthorne posted 15 points while Henderson (12 points) and Lewis (11) each generated big first-half scoring performances.

A Hawthorne trifecta opened the scoring in the second half but Brescia scored 12 of the next 15 points to get within a dozen at 64-52. However, that would be as close as the Bearcats would get the rest of the way as an emphatic Jailen Gill dunk – UT Martin's sixth of the night – gave the Skyhawks their biggest lead of the night and provided the final 108-79 scoring margin.

UT Martin closes out a quick two-game homestand this Tuesday, Dec. 18 when it hosts in-state rival Chattanooga. Tipoff time from the Elam Center is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.