FRIDAY'S SCORES
UT Martin 72, @Texas Rio Grande Valley 64
UT MARTIN 72, TEXAS RIO GRANDE VALLEY 64
EDINBURG, Texas - The University of Tennessee at Martin men’s basketball team led for over 34 minutes of clock time and overcame a late deficit with a lengthy defensive stand that lifted the Skyhawks to a 72-64 victory at UT Rio Grande Valley this evening.
UT Martin (3-7) found itself down by a 59-58 margin with 6:20 to play tonight – its first deficit since the opening basket of the game. The Skyhawks then held UT Rio Grande Valley scoreless over the next 4:25, outscoring the Vaqueros by a 9-0 margin during that stretch as part of a game-ending 14-5 run.
Twymond Howard led the way for UT Martin with 16 points and 12 rebounds for his first double-double of the season and sixth in his brief two-year Skyhawk career. His pair of free throws at the 4:09 mark gave UT Martin a lead it would not relinquish the rest of the way while he also finished one rebound shy of his career-high of 13 boards set last year at Eastern Illinois.
The Skyhawks were also led by the hot shooting of Richard Lee (16 points) and Jacolby Mobley (15), who combined to sink 14 of their 21 shot attempts. Alex Anderson pitched in with 11 points, four rebounds and three assists for UT Martin, who outrebounded the Vaqueros by a 46-30 margin.
Shaquille Hines and JJ Thompson shared the team lead with 17 points for UT Rio Grande Valley (3-6). Dakota Slaughter also reached double-figures in the scoring column with 13 points for a Vaqueros squad that was held to 36.7 percent shooting (22-for-60).
A three-pointer by Lee at the 17:04 mark gave UT Martin its first lead of the contest at 5-2. Layups by Lee and Mobley on back-to-back possessions pushed the Skyhawk advantage out to 11-4 just a little over five minutes into the contest.
The Vaqueros closed the gap to two points before a Howard free throw gave UT Martin a 20-13 lead. UT Rio Grande Valley once again got back within a single possession but Mobley heated up towards the end of the half. The junior guard out of Starkville, Miss. accounted for five points during a 10-5 Skyhawk run in the final five minutes, allowing UT Martin to take a 34-26 lead at the break.
Mobley’s nine points off the bench led the Skyhawks in the first half, as UT Martin held a 26-17 advantage on the glass. Thompson and Slaughter each had nine points to pace the Vaqueros, who were held to 32.1 percent shooting (9-for-28) in the first 20 minutes.
UT Rio Grande Valley began the second half on a 7-0 run before Malik London slammed down a dunk to put the Skyhawks on top by a 36-33 margin with 17:34 left to play.
Anderson knocked down a trey a little under two minutes later to result in a 45-39 advantage for UT Martin. The Vaqueros would tie the score at 51-all on an old-fashioned three-point play by Thompson at the 9:15 mark but Anderson came right back with a stepback three-pointer on the Skyhawks’ next trip down the floor to keep UT Martin on top.
The Vaqueros would take their first lead in nearly 32 minutes of clock time when Hines converted a pair of free throws with 6:20 to go. Howard evened the score at 59-all with a free throw nearly 90 seconds later and tilted the score back in favor of the Skyhawks (61-59) with two more free throws at the 4:09 mark.
UT Martin then buckled down defensively, as four different Skyhawks chipped in with points during the 9-0 spurt which gave UT Martin a 67-59 advantage.
UT Rio Grande Valley would get back within six points with 1:45 left to play but that would be as close as the Vaqueros would get, as the Skyhawk senior trio of Howard, Myles Taylor and Anderson combined to make five of six free throws in the final 45 seconds to seal the win.