THURSDAY'S SCORES
@UT Martin 115, Champion Baptist 29
@Murray State 89, Brescia 56
UC Davis 63,
@Eastern Illinois 61
@Tennessee State 75, Fisk 60
UT MARTIN 115, CHAMPION BAPTIST 29
MARTIN, Tenn. - A pair of school records were broken this evening as the University of Tennessee at Martin men’s basketball team soared to a 115-29 victory over Champion Baptist in the 2014-15 home opener at the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center.
UT Martin set a school record for biggest margin of victory (previously 76 points against St. Louis Christian on Jan. 5, 1991) and also lowest points allowed in the Division-I era (1992-present). The Skyhawks used a pair of sustained runs where they held Champion Baptist scoreless over a combined stretch of nearly 16 minutes and led by as many as 89 points late in the contest.
All 14 Skyhawks who saw playing time scored tonight, as no UT Martin player logged more than 18 minutes of time on the court. Myles Taylor scored a game-high 18 points with three blocks for the Skyhawks while Alex Anderson and Richard Lee (5-for-5 shooting, 3-for-3 from three-point range in collegiate debut) added 13 points apiece.
Twymond Howard scored 12 points with a career-best nine rebounds while Marshun Newell tallied 10 points for the Skyhawks. Deville Smith handed out a career-high nine assists (against zero turnovers) and Khristian Taylor set a new career-high with nine rebounds to help UT Martin improve to 2-1 on the season.
As a team, UT Martin shot 60.6 percent (43-for-71), including 14 three-pointers in 29 attempts, falling one trifecta short of the school record. The Skyhawks pulled down 53 rebounds, swiped 13 steals and handed out 31 assists with only six turnovers.
Champion Baptist, a member of the Association of Christian College Athletics located in Hot Springs, Ark., was led by 13 points and five rebounds out of Stephen Hurst. The Tigers shot 23.1 percent (12-for-52) from the floor for the contest.
Champion Baptist led 6-4 a little over three minutes into the game but UT Martin came back with a 13-0 run to take a lead it would not rescind for the rest of the evening. Dee Oldham canned three-pointers on three consecutive possessions to help the Skyhawks extend their advantage.
The Skyhawks held a comfortable 23-10 lead almost midway through the first half until UT Martin scored 28 unanswered points over a span of 7:01 to break the game open. Five different Skyhawks scored a bucket during the stretch to help give UT Martin a 58-14 lead at the halftime break.
Myles Taylor (11 points) and Howard (10) each cracked double-figures in the scoring column in the first half. Hurst’s eight points guided Champion Baptist.
UT Martin scored the first 12 points of the second half and minutes later would go on a 27-0 run. CJ Davis make his collegiate debut during the run and poured in eight quick points (including two treys) in 2:54. Lee also scored seven points in a span of 2:36 to help the Skyhawks build a 99-19 lead with 7:30 left to play.
MURRAY STATE 89, BRESCIA 56
MURRAY, Ky. - The Murray State Racers put five players in double-figure scoring Thursday in an 89-56 win over the Brescia Bearcats at the CFSB Center in Murray, Ky.
The Racers got off to a 24-2 start and enjoyed a 44-24 lead at the break. MSU kept the pressure on the Bearcats (2-3) in the second half as they built a largest lead of 38 points at 83-45 with 5:54 remaining.
The win for MSU (2-1) was their first at home this season and provided a tune up for their next challenge, a Monday game in Cincinnati against the Xavier Musketeers.
Jarvis Williams was 9-of-11 from the field for 21 points, while Cameron Payne and Jonathan Fairell each scored 15 points. Fairell added 12 rebounds and Payne posted a career-high six steals. Justin Seymour and T.J. Sapp each scored 10 points and combined to go 7-of-13 from the field.
The Racers ended the game shooting 50 percent from the field on 31-of-61 shots, while Brescia was 21-of-52 for 40 percent. MSU won the rebound total 40-31.
UC DAVIS 63, EASTERN ILLINOIS 61
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Eastern Illinois had a jumper to tie the game with four seconds remaining the game fall just short as the Panthers dropped a 63-61 contest to UC Davis on Thursday night in Lantz Arena.
The Panthers dropped to 1-2 on the season and will play at Cincinnati on Sunday in the opening round of the Emerald Coast Classic. UC Davis, coached by former Bradley star and head coach Jim Les, improved to 2-0.
EIU led by three points with 3:42 left to play as Chris Olivier hit a jumper in the lane. Following a 3-pointer by Josh Ritchart, EIU would go back up by one point on a free throw by Luke Piotrowski with 2:37 left to play.
Corey Hawkins answered for UC Davis making a jumper with 1:14 to play. He would add a pair of free throws with six seconds left in the game to give UC Davis a three point lead. Cornell Johnston was fouled just over half court on the floor before he could attempt a 3-point shot. Johnston made both free throws to make it a one point game.
Hawkins then made only one of two free throws allowing EIU a chance to either tie or win the game in the final seconds. The Panthers shot by Dylan Chatman fell just short as time expired.
Hawkins led UC Davis with 28 points while Ritchart added 14 points. The Aggies shot 53 percent in the second half and 50 percent for the game. They also knocked down 10-of-20 3-pointers with Hawkins making 5-of-7.
The Aggies jumped out to the lead in the first half leading by seven points on a Hawkins jumper with 12:12 to play. The Panthers slowly chipped away at that lead taking a 21-20 advantage on a jumper by Olivier with 7:59 to play in the first. Olivier was one of four EIU players in double figures finishing with 13 points.
Trae Anderson extended EIU's lead to five at 28-23 with 4:42 to play on a 3-pointer. The junior college transfer came off the bench to lead EIU with 16 points. UC Davis closed the half with a tip-in by Hawkins just before the buzzer to lead 34-33.
Tyler Les knocked down a pair of three pointers midway through the second half, the second one at 12:08 giving UC Davis a 48-38 lead. The Panthers would drive the ball down low getting to the foul line and cutting the lead to four points. Dylan Chatman's 3-pointer cut the lead to one with 8:57 to play and Johnston put EIU up 51-50 on a jumper with 8:40. A Johnston 3-pointer with 6:17 to go gave EIU its biggest lead at 56-52 with 6:17 to play.
Johnston had ten points and seven assists. Chatman had 15 points hitting 3-of-4 from 3-point range.
TENNESSEE STATE 75, FISK 60
NASHVILLE - The Tennessee State University men’s basketball team closed out its home stand to begin the season with a 75-60 win over Fisk University on Thursday night at Gentry Center.
The Tigers (2-1) claimed the Battle of Jefferson Street over the Bulldogs (0-7) for the 14th time in the series. TSU used a second half surge of shooting to pull off the win.
Xavier Richards had 21 points and 11 rebounds to lead a Tiger team that had three players record double-doubles. Darreon Reddick notched 14 points and had a game-high 13 boards while Zachary Lee put up 10 points and 11 rebounds.
Fisk received a couple of outstanding performances that kept them close for most of the game. Walter Arnold and Chris Pollard both put up 12 points, mostly via the three-pointer, to lead the Bulldogs.
A close first half saw strong defense from TSU as it held Fisk to 24 percent from the floor. They also out-rebounded the Bulldogs by a slight 26-23 margin. Zachary Lee pulled down 10 rebounds in the first 20 minutes of action.
Offensively, the Tigers were held to just one trey in seven attempts (14.3 percent) and 10 buckets, overall. All but one Tiger that touched the floor scored as they held a 29-22 lead going into the locker room.
About four minutes into the second half Fisk tied the game at 33. From there TSU outscored them 42-27. Richards knocked down 17 of his 21 in the final 20 minutes on 7-of-8 shooting (.875 field goal percentage) to help ice the cake.
The Tigers made 70 percent of their free-throws (14-20) in the final frame. They got to the charity stripe seven more times in the half then Fisk did for the game.
Overall, the Tigers were able to pull away in a physical game. They finish the season-opening home stand 2-1.