Grullon Matches Career-High In Scoring But UT Martin's Second-Half Comeback Falls Short At Charleston Southern

Tuesday, December 3

Charleston, SC

6:30 p.m.

UT Martin

2-6,0-0OVC

Charleston Southern

3-7,0-0Big South

UT Martin

Charleston So.

Grullon Matches Career-High In Scoring But UT Martin's Second-Half Comeback Falls Short At Charleston Southern

12/3/2024 9:51:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Stats PDF

CHARLESTON, SC – The University of Tennessee at Martin men's basketball team shaved a 13-point halftime deficit down to five with nine minutes remaining tonight but Charleston Southern was able to hang on for an 83-68 win.

Fresh off a win at Miami, the Buccaneers scored nine unanswered points after the Skyhawks made the score 56-51. UT Martin was able to piece together a 7-0 run down the stretch but ultimately wouldn't get any closer than 11 points the rest of the way.

Josué Grullon tied his career-high with 24 points while making his first start of the 2024-25 campaign. The junior guard out of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic was an efficient 9-of-14 shooting from the floor on the way to equaling his previous high mark at North Alabama (Nov. 11).

Tarence Guinyard also provided the Skyhawks (2-6) with plenty of scoring punch, tossing in 18 points on 5-of-9 shooting with a perfect 7-for-7 effort from the free throw line. Afan Trnka (nine points), Stefano Faloppa (eight points) and Vladimer Salaridze (seven points, game-high eight rebounds) also flirted with double figures in the scoring column for UT Martin, who shot 52 percent (13-of-25) from the floor in the final 20 minutes.

Charleston Southern (3-7) was led by RJ Johnson, who scored 20 of his game-high 30 points in the first half while adding six assists. Taje' Kelly added 16 points while Daylen Berry posted 14 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals.

An old-fashioned three-point play from Afan Trnka opened the scoring just 31 seconds into the contest. Grullon soon got going to the tune of seven points in a six-minute span, leading to the sixth tie of the game (18-18) at the under-12-minute media timeout.

Following a pair of Guinyard free throws to give the Skyhawks a 20-18 edge, the Buccaneers went on a 17-4 run. A Grullon trifecta and Guinyard backdoor floater helped UT Martin pull within eight points (37-29) late in the half but Charleston Southern was able to extend its lead to 42-29 at the break. Grullon was responsible for a team-best 12 points in the first half for the Skyhawks.

Grullon scored UT Martin's first five points of the second half and was followed by five consecutive points out of Guinyard. Salaridze then collected five straight Skyhawk points before a fast break layup by Grullon with 9:09 left to play capped off a 17-7 run and pulled UT Martin back within five.

The Buccaneers' aforementioned 9-0 run led to a 65-51 Skyhawk deficit. Faloppa answered with five straight Skyhawk points before the duo of Guinyard (seven) and Grullon (five) scored UT Martin's final 12 points. However, the hole proved to be too large for the Skyhawks to overcome.

After exactly a month without a home game, UT Martin will play at the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center on Saturday, Dec. 7 when it takes on Montreat. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m.