SUNDAY'S SCORES
@Ball State 83,
UT Martin 80 (OT)
BALL STATE 83, UT MARTIN 80 (OT)
MUNCIE, Ind. - The University of Tennessee at Martin men’s basketball team led for over 39 minutes today but Ball State used a dramatic comeback to post an 83-80 win in the second round of the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament. With the loss, the Skyhawks conclude their season with a 20-15 overall record.
UT Martin led by 11 points with 1:56 remaining but the Cardinals scored 11 unanswered points to force overtime. Ball State (21-13) then outscored the Skyhawks by a 12-9 margin in the extra period.
Playing in his final collegiate game, UT Martin senior Twymond Howard scored a game-high 26 points. Kedar Edwards tied a career-high with 18 points while senior Alex Anderson scored 16 points in his final game in a Skyhawk uniform. Chandler Rowe also grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds for UT Martin, who led by as many as 16 points with 8:31 to go in the second half.
The Cardinals were led by double-doubles out of Bo Calhoun (17 points, 12 rebounds) and Franko House (10 points, 13 rebounds). Sean Sellers added 17 points off the bench while Trey Moses and Jeremie Tyler each added 12 points apiece for the Cardinals, who shared the Mid-American Conference West division championship this season.
The Skyhawks jumped out to an early lead thanks to back-to-back three-pointers by Edwards and Howard. A fast break layup by Anderson provided UT Martin with a 12-5 lead less than four minutes into the contest.
A right wing three-pointer from Howard at the 14:36 mark pushed the Skyhawk advantage out to 15-7. Ball State responded with a 10-2 run to even the score at 17-all but Edwards scored five of UT Martin’s next seven points to nudge the Skyhawks back ahead by a 24-19 margin with 8:21 to go in the first half.
A little over four minutes later, Ball State took its first lead since the opening possession of the game but UT Martin scored the next seven points of the game to take a 35-29 lead. A short jumper in the paint by Terrence Durham with 59 seconds to go resulted in the Skyhawks’ 37-31 halftime lead.
Howard (14 points) and Edwards (10) each cracked double-figures in the scoring column in the first half for UT Martin. The Cardinals were led by seven points apiece out of Tyler and Calhoun.
Howard tossed in the Skyhawks’ first six points of the second half, allowing UT Martin to take a double-digit lead for the first time in the game. His short jumper on a pick-and-roll made the score 41-31 in favor of the Skyhawks at the 18:53 mark.
UT Martin maintained a double-digit lead thanks to Anderson, who sank a long two-pointer before knocking down a trifecta on a fast break to make the score 48-38.
Anderson drained four straight free throws after a technical foul was assessed to the Cardinals, extending the Skyhawk lead out to 60-44 with 8:31 remaining in regulation.
Moments later, Ball State used a 7-0 run to close within single-digits at 62-54 with 5:34 left to play. Big buckets inside by Javier Martinez sandwiched a trio of Edwards free throws that helped UT Martin go back ahead by double-digits with 2:57 to go in regulation.
Ball State then went on its aforementioned run, closing the second half on an 11-0 run that lasted 1:28. The Skyhawks were 0-for-3 from the free throw line and committed three turnovers during the Cardinals’ surge that sent the game into overtime.
After Ball State scored the first two points of the extra period, UT Martin scored the next five, as Howard converted an old-fashioned three-point play and Edwards scored on a baseline drive. Two more ties followed before Howard knocked down a free throw at the 1:26 mark to give the Skyhawks an 80-79 advantage.
However, that would be the final points that UT Martin would score, as Ball State went 4-for-4 from the free throw line from that point forward and avoided a game-tying three-point attempt with three seconds left to close out the comeback victory.
Today’s result marked the end of the collegiate careers of Howard, Anderson and Durham. Howard earned All-OVC honors in each of his two seasons at UT Martin, scoring a total of 990 points to go along with 460 rebounds. Anderson accounted for 844 points with 188 three-pointers made, which ranks fifth in Skyhawk history. Durham worked his way from a walk-on to earn a starting role, logging 26 starts at point guard for a team that won its first-ever Ohio Valley Conference West division championship.