NO. 7 UT MARTIN ADVANCES TO OVC TOURNAMENT QUARTERFINALS WITH THRILLING 78-71 TRIUMPH OVER EASTERN ILLINOIS

Wednesday, March 6

Evansville, Ind.

8:30 P.M.

UT Martin

12-18

Eastern Illinois

14-18

UT Martin

Eastern Illinois

NO. 7 UT MARTIN ADVANCES TO OVC TOURNAMENT QUARTERFINALS WITH THRILLING 78-71 TRIUMPH OVER EASTERN ILLINOIS

3/6/2019 11:59:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score PDF Boxscore Photo Gallery Postgame Press Conference

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Senior center Jailen Gill powered his way through for a double-double this evening as the No. 7 seed University of Tennessee at Martin chalked up a 78-71 victory over No. 6 Eastern Illinois in the Ohio Valley Conference Men's Basketball Championships at the Ford Center.

Gill set the tone for the Skyhawks with 17 points and 10 rebounds for his fifth career double-double in a UT Martin uniform. The Kansas City, Mo. native went 8-for-10 from the field, snared seven offensive rebounds and blocked two shots for the Skyhawks, who took the lead for good with 7:42 to go.

Derek Hawthorne, Jr. equaled a team-high with 17 points to go along with six rebounds off the bench for UT Martin, who improves to 12-18 on the season. Craig Randall II (14 points), Quintin Dove (10) and Delfincko Bogan (10) also scored in double-figures to help the Skyhawks outscore the Panthers by a 42-33 margin in the final 20 minutes.

Eastern Illinois (14-18) was led by Josiah Wallace's 26 points as the Panthers led for over 26 minutes of clock time. Rade Kukobat and Ben Harvey each scored 11 points apiece while Mack Smith tossed in 10 points but Eastern Illinois was forced into 16 turnovers on the evening.

"We've been overcoming a lot of things all year and I'm really happy that our players can enjoy some success, especially in this marvelous environment," UT Martin head coach Anthony Stewart. "We score enough points – we are very talented offensively. It's just a matter of whether or not we are going to defend for 40 minutes. We really hung around until our defense stepped up towards the end."

A Dove layup just 14 seconds into the game provided the Skyhawks with their first lead of the game. However, the Panthers scored 11 of the next 13 points and maintained that advantage until a Randall mid-range jumper tilted the score in favor of UT Martin at 17-16. Eastern Illinois then went on an 11-2 run to take its biggest lead of the game at 27-19. The Skyhawks would close out the half on an 8-2 surge of their own, as five consecutive points by Gill and a Kevin Little three-pointer resulted in a 38-36 halftime deficit for the Skyhawks. Wallace (13 points) and Dove (eight) led each side in scoring at the intermission.

Gill accounted for UT Martin's first six points of the second half before Hawthorne tossed in six straight points for the Skyhawks. Two ties followed before a Randall trifecta at the 9:34 mark lifted UT Martin to a 56-54 lead. After Eastern Illinois knotted the score at 56-all, a pair of Dove free throws and a thunderous dunk by Gill nudged the lead out to two possessions. The Panthers would trim their deficit to 65-64 with 2:44 remaining but a Preston Parks floater and yet another Gill dunk provided some separation. Hawthorne, Bogan, Little and Parks then sealed the win with seven free throws in the final 43 seconds.

With the win, UT Martin advances to the OVC Championship quarterfinals against No. 3 seed Jacksonville State. Tipoff from the Ford Center is set for Thursday, March 7 at 8:30 p.m.