SKYHAWK MEN’S BASKETBALL EXTENDS WINNING STREAK TO THREE GAMES IN WIRE-TO-WIRE 81-72 VICTORY OVER SOUTHEAST MISSOURI

Thursday, February 14

Martin, Tenn.

7:30 P.M.

UT Martin

9-15 (4-9OVC)

Southeast Missouri

8-18 (3-10OVC)

Southeast Missouri

UT Martin

SKYHAWK MEN’S BASKETBALL EXTENDS WINNING STREAK TO THREE GAMES IN WIRE-TO-WIRE 81-72 VICTORY OVER SOUTHEAST MISSOURI

2/14/2019 11:53:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score PDF Boxscore Photo Gallery Postgame Press Conference

MARTIN, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee at Martin men's basketball team came out on a mission this evening as the Skyhawks never trailed in an 81-72 triumph over Ohio Valley Conference rival Southeast Missouri.

UT Martin jumped out to a 24-2 lead and held a 25-point advantage less than nine minutes into the game. The Skyhawks led for 39:48 of clock time after a season-best 61.2 shooting percentage (30-of-49), which included a 12-for-22 effort from beyond the three-point arc.

Tonight's win came with heavy hearts as head coach Anthony Stewart and the UT Martin players dedicated the game to the memory of Wyatt Cole, a sophomore rodeo student-athlete who tragically passed away in an automobile accident on Sunday.

"We wanted to dedicate this win tonight in the memory of Wyatt Cole and his family, friends and teammates," Stewart said. "That's the least we thought we could do. He was on our minds this week and he was on our minds this game. We wanted to do this as a team – we talked about it at shootaround today. We are all a part of the same team here at UT Martin."

Preston Parks scored 17 of his season-high 26 points in the second half tonight, as the junior guard from Greenville, SC shot 8-of-13 from the field (including 5-of-7 from three-point range). He also added six rebounds, five assists and a pair of steals for the Skyhawks, who won their third straight game to improve to 9-15 (4-9 OVC).

Also scoring in double-figures for UT Martin was Delfincko Bogan (17 points on 6-for-9 shooting) and Craig Randall II (16 points, game-high seven assists). Quintin Dove added nine points and Jailen Gill hauled in a game-high eight rebounds for the Skyhawks.

Southeast Missouri (8-18, 3-10 OVC) was led by Gabe McGlothan's 21 points – all of which came in the second half. Ledarrius Brewer contributed 10 points for the Redhawks, who were held to 29.2 percent shooting (7-for-24) over the first 20 minutes of the contest.

UT Martin scored the first seven points of the game and after a Southeast Missouri bucket at the 18:19 mark, the Skyhawks unspooled the next 17 points of the game. An old-fashioned three-point play by Dove with 11:12 to play made the score 29-4 in favor of UT Martin. The Redhawks wouldn't get any closer than 16 points the rest of the first half as a Parks trifecta with just under a minute to go provided the Skyhawks with a 43-21 lead at the intermission. Bogan (13 points) and Jonathan Dalton (six points) led their respective squads in the opening half.

Gill stuffed home dunks on back-to-back scoring trips for UT Martin to keep the Skyhawks ahead by 23 points at the first media timeout of the second half. A deep trey from Randall with 7:20 remaining pushed UT Martin on top by a 68-44 margin but Southeast Missouri went on a 16-0 run to get within eight points with under four minutes to go. Parks then dialed up seven of the Skyhawks' final nine points of the game – all in the final 2:01 – to help UT Martin complete one of its most complete victories of the season.

The Skyhawks start a three-game road swing this Saturday, Feb. 16 when they look for the season sweep over OVC foe SIUE. Tipoff time from Edwardsville, Ill. is set for 2 p.m.