TUESDAY'S SCORES
UT Martin 57, @Florida Atlantic 48
@Tennessee 74,
Tennessee State 69
@Eastern Kentucky 76, Manhattan 64
@Alabama 67,
Jacksonville State 59 (OT)
UT MARTIN 57, FLORIDA ATLANTIC 48
BOCA RATON, Fla. - The University of Tennessee at Martin men’s basketball team relied on its staunch defense once again today, posting a stirring 57-48 victory at Florida Atlantic out of Conference USA.
Today’s win was the fifth in a row for the Skyhawks, who improve to 7-7 on the season. Eight days after holding Alcorn State to a season-low 47 points, UT Martin’s defense once again rose to the occasion, limiting Florida Atlantic to 32.1 percent shooting (18-for-56), including 19 percent (4-for-21) from three-point range. As a result, the Skyhawks grounded their opponent to under 50 points in back-to-back games for the first time since Jan. 11-13, 2007.
Twymond Howard and Myles Taylor shared the team lead in scoring with 19 points each. Howard added 10 rebounds for his third double-double in the last four games and eighth of his two-year career at UT Martin. Taylor also grabbed nine rebounds while Kedar Edwards (10 rebounds, game-high three steals) also helped direct the Skyhawks to victory.
Florida Atlantic (2-11) was led by Adonis Filer’s 17 points. Jeantal Cylla (12 points) and Ronald Delph (12 rebounds) also guided the Owls, who committed nine of their 14 turnovers in the second half.
Howard got the Skyhawks going early, as he had seven points in the first 4:31 to help UT Martin build a 13-7 lead. The Skyhawks would later use a 10-0 run – holding Florida Atlantic to 1-of-13 shooting during that span – to open up a 23-9 advantage at the 7:27 mark. Richard Lee (left corner trey), Alex Anderson (strong take to hoop), Taylor (swoop and drive layup) and Howard (left corner trifecta) each provided baskets during UT Martin’s run.
The Owls responded with an 11-2 run and would eventually get within four points before Taylor had a pair of buckets inside in the final two minutes of the half to give the Skyhawks a 31-25 lead at the break.
UT Martin’s duo of Howard and Taylor scored 10 points apiece in the first half, as the Skyhawks outrebounded Florida Atlantic by a 21-17 margin. Cylla had 10 first-half points to lead the Owls, who trailed for 19:12 of clock time in the first 20 minutes.
Florida Atlantic began the second half on an 8-1 run, taking a 33-32 lead in the process. The Skyhawks then tilted the score back in their favor thanks to the play of Howard and the defensive toughness of Jalen Variste. Howard poured in seven points while intense ball pressure from Variste led to an 11-2 spurt for UT Martin, who forced six turnovers in a span of 4:51 to reclaim the lead.
A reverse layup by Edwards and a layup off an offensive rebound by Taylor pushed the Skyhawk advantage out to eight points (50-42) with 4:46 left to play. The Owls scored on back-to-back possessions to creep back within four points but the UT Martin defense once again stepped up, holding Florida Atlantic to 3-for-15 shooting to close out the game. Taylor scored five of the Skyhawks’ last seven points to help clinch the victory.
TENNESSEE 74, TENNESSEE STATE 69
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Wayne Martin registered 19 points and nine rebounds, but the Tennessee State men's basketball team suffered a 74-69 road loss at Tennessee on Tuesday afternoon at Thompson-Boling Arena in the non-conference finale.
Playing in front of 13,214 fans, the Tigers (9-4) led for 28:19 of the game, but could not hold on as Tennessee (7-5) improved to 7-0 at home.
TSU held a 43-36 halftime edge and had a three-point lead at 66-63 with 3:26 to play before the Volunteers utilized a 9-0 run to take a six-point edge, 72-66, with just over a minute left. Martin converted a three-point play to put the score at 72-69 with 49.0 seconds left, but that was as close as TSU would get the rest of the way.
TSU forced Tennessee into four turnovers in the opening five minutes and held an 11-8 lead with six points coming from Martin.
Later in the half, Tennessee led by as many as four points before TSU was able to battle back. After a stop on the defensive end, Christian Griggs-Williams hit a layup to tie it up at 17-17, and a Marcus Roper dunk off a steal led to a 19-17 lead with 10:37 left before the half.
Keron DeShields, who finished with 13 points and six assists, converted a layup as the first-half buzzer sounded to give the Tigers a 43-36 halftime advantage.
Tennessee shot 8-for-14 (57.1 percent) on three pointers in the first half, but TSU finished 17-for-31 (54.8 percent) from the field in the opening 20 minutes and forced UT into 10 turnovers.
The Tigers continued to lead for most of the second half and posted a six-point edge at 62-56 on a layup from Griggs-Williams with 7:10 showing on the clock.
The Volunteers swung the game back in their favor and eventually took the lead for good with their 9-0 run late in the contest.
For UT, Kevin Punter led all scorers with 23 points, while Armani Moore posted eight points, 14 rebounds, six assists and three blocks. On the other end, Roper continued his strong play with 10 points off the bench for TSU.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 76, MANHATTAN 64
RICHMOND, Ky. - Hot shooting and a stifling defensive effort helped the Eastern Kentucky men's basketball team jump out to an 18-0 lead in the opening minutes on its way to a convincing 76-64 win over Manhattan on Tuesday afternoon at McBrayer Arena.
With the wire-to-wire win, EKU (9-6) closes out the non-conference season 8-0 at home.
Senior Jarelle Reischel – who missed EKU's game with a back injury at No. 19 West Virginia on December 21 – led the way with 26 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and four steals. Junior JaVontae Hawkins contributed 15 points, four rebounds and two assists.
The Colonels delivered one of their best defensive efforts of the season in the victory, forcing Manhattan (3-8) into 16 turnovers and converting those turnovers in 26 points. EKU held the Jaspers to 24 percent (6-of-25) shooting from the field and 23 percent (3-of-13) shooting from deep in the first half to build a comfortable lead.
Eastern's defense coerced the Jaspers into eight turnovers on their first 12 possessions. The Colonels generated 14 points off Manhattan's early miscues, as an alley-oop dunk by Hawkins gave EKU an 18-0 lead with 14:42 remaining in the first half.
Manhattan did not score a bucket until the 14:29 mark of the first half, when Rashawn Stores got the Jaspers on the board with a three-pointer. Stores' long ball sparked a 10-0 run over the next 2:18 for Manhattan, closing the Eastern lead to eight, 18-10.
The Colonels, however, outscored the Jaspers 27-11 over the remainder of the first half, and a jumper from freshman Anthony Pratt Jr. gave EKU a 45-21 advantage at halftime.
Manhattan pulled to within 13 points when Shane Richards knocked down a triple from the top of the key to make it 51-38 with 13:14 remaining in the second half; however, Eastern responded with a 13-3 run and pushed its lead back to 23, 64-41, when sophomore Paul Jackson converted a free throw with 7:07 on the clock.
EKU received solid bench performances from Pratt Jr. (eight points, two rebounds), sophomore Greg King (five points, four rebounds, one block) and junior Jaylen Babb-Harrison (nine points, four rebounds, two assists) in the win.
ALABAMA 67, JACKSONVILLE STATE 59 (OT)
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) - Riley Norris scored 10 points and grabbed 11 rebounds and Alabama beat Jacksonville State 67-59 in overtime on Tuesday night.
Jacksonville State's Jeremy Watson hit a shot to open overtime but Alabama scored the next 10 points, six from the free-throw line, and led 65-57 with 39 seconds left.
JaQuail Townser's 3-pointer with 33 seconds left in regulation tied the game for the Gamecosks (4-11) at 55-all. Alabama's Retin Obasohan missed a pair of free throws with two seconds to go.
This was the second consecutive true home game for Alabama (8-3) in which one of the Crimson Tide's players finished with a double-double, and that was the second of Norris' career.
Alabama's Arthur Edwards scored 16 points and grabbed five rebounds and Jimmie Taylor scored 13 points, blocked five shots and grabbed six rebounds.
Jacksonville State's Jared Hamilton failed to score a point after his first-half buzzer-beater but finished with 16 points.