Skyhawks Drop Road Decision At Southern Illinois

Wednesday, December 10

Carbondale, Ill.

7 p.m.

UT Martin

7-3,0-0OVC

Southern Illinois

6-4,0-0MVC

UT Martin

Southern Ill.

Skyhawks Drop Road Decision At Southern Illinois

12/10/2025 10:19:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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CARBONDALE, Ill. – The University of Tennessee at Martin men's basketball team battled for the first 20 minutes tonight at Southern Illinois but the Skyhawks could not find their footing in the second half in an 83-54 setback to the Salukis.

UT Martin led for over six minutes in the first half and was within striking distance at the halftime break, trailing 34-27. However, Southern Illinois shot 57.1 percent (32-of-56) for the contest while the Skyhawks made 33.9 percent (19-for-56) of their field goal attempts while committing 19 turnovers.

Andrija Bukumirović tallied nine points and a game-high seven rebounds to lead UT Martin (7-3) tonight. Matas Deniusas equaled Bukumirović with nine points with a team-best three assists while Damien King (eight points, five rebounds, two steals), Filip Radaković (seven points) and Afan Trnka (seven points, two blocks) trailed closely behind in the scoring column. Filip Petkovski (five points), Pedro Santos (five) and Lamine Niang (four) concluded the scoring for the Skyhawks.

The Salukis (6-4) were led by 17 points from Davion Sykes while Quel'Ron House and Jalen Haynes each scored 12 points apiece.

Deniusas scored five straight points early before a King three-pointer capped off an 8-0 UT Martin run and gave the Skyhawks a 12-7 advantage at the first media timeout. Trnka drilled a triple coming out of the second media timeout that kept UT Martin's lead at four (15-11) but nine unanswered Southern Illinois points followed.

Back-to-back buckets inside from Niang pulled the Skyhawks within one point (28-27) with two minutes to go before the halftime break but the Salukis accounted for the final six points of the half. Deniusas' seven points led all scorers at the half while Sykes' six points topped Southern Illinois.

An old-fashioned three-point play by Radaković opened the UT Martin scoring in the second half. The Skyhawks eventually clawed back within four when a pair of Deniusas free throws made the score 38-34 with 17 minutes left to play.

The Salukis then went on a 17-1 run before a trey by Petkovski temporarily halted the Southern Illinois momentum. Bukumirović and Radaković both scored four points apiece during an 8-2 UT Martin run that made the score 61-46 with a little under seven minutes remaining. However, that would be as close as the Skyhawks would get the rest of the way.

UT Martin completes its nonconference schedule on Sunday, Dec. 14 when it hosts Champion Christian at the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center. The game – which will serve as the backend of a doubleheader with the Skyhawk women's basketball team – will tip off at 4:30 p.m.