NO. 7 UT MARTIN LEAVES IT ALL ON THE FLOOR IN 88-81 OVC QUARTERFINAL SETBACK TO NO. 3 JACKSONVILLE STATE

Thursday, March 7

Evansville, Ind.

8:30 P.M.

UT Martin

12-19

Jacksonville State

24-8

UT Martin

Jacksonville State

NO. 7 UT MARTIN LEAVES IT ALL ON THE FLOOR IN 88-81 OVC QUARTERFINAL SETBACK TO NO. 3 JACKSONVILLE STATE

3/7/2019 11:57:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score PDF Boxscore Photo Gallery Postgame Press Conference

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Tennessee at Martin's late-season surge came to an end tonight in the Ohio Valley Conference Men's Basketball Quarterfinals, as the No. 7 seed Skyhawks were defeated by an 88-81 margin to No. 3 Jacksonville State at the Ford Center.

UT Martin led 43-33 at the halftime break thanks to an electric first half by junior forward Quintin Dove. The Cleveland, Ohio native poured in 29 of his career-best 35 points in the first 20 minutes, finishing just shy of a double-double with a game-high eight rebounds. Overall, he went 11-of-16 from the floor – including a perfect 4-for-4 from beyond the three-point arc – and went 9-of-11 from the free throw line.

Delfincko Bogan performed well in his final collegiate game, as the senior tallied 16 points, a team-high five assists, five rebounds and three steals. The Skyhawks also received 15 points from Craig Randall II tonight as he helped UT Martin collectively knock down 10 three-pointers.

Jacksonville State's comeback was aided by a 63 percent (17-of-27) shooting effort in the second half. Tennessee transfer Detrick Mostella scored 21 points while Jason Burnell (19 points), Marlon Hunter (16) and Jamall Gregory (10) each added double-figures scoring nights for the Gamecocks.

"We ran out of time tonight," Skyhawk head coach Anthony Stewart said. "Quintin's first half performance was as good as it gets. I wasn't surprised – he's as talented of a player as I've had. I believe fatigue hit us a little bit – this was the first time in a while where foul trouble affected us. We had some unforced errors on turnovers and missed assignments down on the defensive end. You can't do that against a good team like Jacksonville State if you expect to win."

The Gamecocks started the game on a 9-2 run and stretched their lead out to nine points by the first media timeout. Dove then registered seven consecutive points but Jacksonville State still held on to an 18-9 lead seven minutes into the game. A Dove layup at the 7:24 mark gave UT Martin its first advantage since the opening bucket of the game but the Gamecocks quickly reclaimed the lead on their next trip down the floor. Dove then piled up 14 of the Skyhawks' final 18 points of the half to help UT Martin take a double-digit advantage into the locker room at the break.

The two sides swapped blows in the early stages of the second half but the Skyhawks stood firm with a 47-37 lead after a pair of Bogan free throws at the 17:24 mark. However, Jacksonville State followed with a 22-4 run over a six-minute span to go on top by eight points. UT Martin would not quit, gradually whittling away at its deficit before Randall converted two free throws to even the score at 70-all with 4:16 remaining. The Gamecocks then unfurled a 7-0 run and the Skyhawks would not get any closer than six points the rest of the way.

UT Martin wraps up the 2018-19 season with a 12-19 overall record. The Skyhawks won a game in the OVC Championship tournament for just the sixth time in school history while seniors Bogan, Jailen Gill, Fatodd Lewis and Kevin Little conclude their careers with 2,034 combined points in a UT Martin uniform.