Tuesday, November 5
Martin, Tenn.
7 p.m.
UT Martin
106
vs
48
St. Louis College of Pharmacy
SKYHAWK MEN’S HOOPS BREEZES PAST ST. LOUIS COLLEGE OF PHARMACY IN SEASON OPENER, 106-48
11/5/2019 11:13:00 PM | Men's Basketball
MARTIN, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee at Martin led wire to wire this evening as the Skyhawks rolled St. Louis College of Pharmacy by a 106-48 margin in the 2019-20 men's basketball opener at the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center.
UT Martin never trailed in the contest, forcing 31 turnovers and holding the Eutectics to 29 percent shooting (18-of-62) from the floor. The Skyhawks outscored St. Louis College of Pharmacy 56-18 in the paint and also held a 33-6 advantage on fast break points.
Quintin Dove powered UT Martin to the win with game-highs of 24 points (on 10-of-15 shooting) and nine rebounds. Craig Randall II produced a stat line of 19 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals while Derek Hawthorne, Jr. tallied 16 points and eight rebounds in just 18 minutes off the bench. Newcomers Miles Thomas (12) and Ja'Darius Harris (11) also scored in double figures for a Skyhawk squad that connected on 56.3 percent (40-for-71) of their field goal tries.
Defensively, freshman Eric Rustin swatted eight shots while Parker Stewart swiped a game-high four steals for UT Martin, who improved to 7-0 in season-openers held at home since transitioning to Division I in 1992.
St. Louis College of Pharmacy was led by Jordan Anderson's 11 points. Anthony Vallejo grabbed a team-high eight rebounds but the Eutectics lost the battle on the glass (43-38).
"I was overall pleased with the performance of the guys," Skyhawk head coach Anthony Stewart said. "I'm concentrating on defense – we can be as good as we want to be if we get better with our defensive assignments, rotations, closeouts and block outs. We made a conscious effort to come out with energy and enthusiasm on the defensive end. We're still trying to figure some things out with different lineups and trying to build our chemistry so it was nice to see a bunch of guys get minutes tonight."
UT Martin scored the first eight points of the game, needing just 1:04 to accomplish that feat. The Eutectics went on an 8-2 run to close to within two points but that was ultimately as close they would get the rest of the way. A 19-1 Skyhawk run over a span of 5:38 rocketed UT Martin's advantage out to 33-12 with just under nine minutes to go in the first half. A fast break jumper by Thomas with 28 seconds left before the halftime break provided the Skyhawks' 50-24 lead at the intermission.
Dove's 16 points led all scorers in the first half while Anderson scored seven points to lead the Eutectics, who committed 18 turnovers in the opening 20 minutes.
A fast break layup from Dove at the 17:42 mark extended UT Martin's lead out to 30 points at 56-26. Randall scored eight of the Skyhawks' first 17 points in the second stanza before Hawthorne dialed up eight of UT Martin's 11 points during one stretch. A thunderous dunk by Harris – the Skyhawks' 10th of the night – made the score 89-44 as UT Martin led by as many as 58 late in the contest.
The Skyhawks play their second straight home game on Saturday, Nov. 9 as UT Martin faces in-state rival ETSU at the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.
Gallery: (11/5/2019) MBB vs. St. Louis College of Pharmacy
UT Martin never trailed in the contest, forcing 31 turnovers and holding the Eutectics to 29 percent shooting (18-of-62) from the floor. The Skyhawks outscored St. Louis College of Pharmacy 56-18 in the paint and also held a 33-6 advantage on fast break points.
Quintin Dove powered UT Martin to the win with game-highs of 24 points (on 10-of-15 shooting) and nine rebounds. Craig Randall II produced a stat line of 19 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals while Derek Hawthorne, Jr. tallied 16 points and eight rebounds in just 18 minutes off the bench. Newcomers Miles Thomas (12) and Ja'Darius Harris (11) also scored in double figures for a Skyhawk squad that connected on 56.3 percent (40-for-71) of their field goal tries.
Defensively, freshman Eric Rustin swatted eight shots while Parker Stewart swiped a game-high four steals for UT Martin, who improved to 7-0 in season-openers held at home since transitioning to Division I in 1992.
St. Louis College of Pharmacy was led by Jordan Anderson's 11 points. Anthony Vallejo grabbed a team-high eight rebounds but the Eutectics lost the battle on the glass (43-38).
"I was overall pleased with the performance of the guys," Skyhawk head coach Anthony Stewart said. "I'm concentrating on defense – we can be as good as we want to be if we get better with our defensive assignments, rotations, closeouts and block outs. We made a conscious effort to come out with energy and enthusiasm on the defensive end. We're still trying to figure some things out with different lineups and trying to build our chemistry so it was nice to see a bunch of guys get minutes tonight."
UT Martin scored the first eight points of the game, needing just 1:04 to accomplish that feat. The Eutectics went on an 8-2 run to close to within two points but that was ultimately as close they would get the rest of the way. A 19-1 Skyhawk run over a span of 5:38 rocketed UT Martin's advantage out to 33-12 with just under nine minutes to go in the first half. A fast break jumper by Thomas with 28 seconds left before the halftime break provided the Skyhawks' 50-24 lead at the intermission.
Dove's 16 points led all scorers in the first half while Anderson scored seven points to lead the Eutectics, who committed 18 turnovers in the opening 20 minutes.
A fast break layup from Dove at the 17:42 mark extended UT Martin's lead out to 30 points at 56-26. Randall scored eight of the Skyhawks' first 17 points in the second stanza before Hawthorne dialed up eight of UT Martin's 11 points during one stretch. A thunderous dunk by Harris – the Skyhawks' 10th of the night – made the score 89-44 as UT Martin led by as many as 58 late in the contest.
The Skyhawks play their second straight home game on Saturday, Nov. 9 as UT Martin faces in-state rival ETSU at the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.
Players Mentioned
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