FRIDAY'S SCORES
@Tennessee State 80, Chicago State 74
@Central Michigan 84,
UT Martin 75
TENNESSEE STATE 80, CHICAGO STATE 74
NASHVILLE - The Tennessee State men’s basketball team continued its streak of victories in the Gentry Center with a 80-74 win over Chicago State Friday afternoon.
In its return home after an eleven-day road swing, the Tigers stole the first half of the afternoon as Jackson, Mississippi native Wesley Harris shot 5-of-7 from the field, 2-of-4 from beyond the arc and made both free throws while also grabbing six rebounds.
Cougar point guard Xavier Johnson led the game in scoring with 34 points, proving to be the force behind Chicago State’s offense, making 7-of the-13 team three-point shots. CSU outscored TSU 48-44 in the second half, but the Tigers’ first half dominance held the Cougars off as Tennessee State floated to its sixth win of the season.
CENTRAL MICHIGAN 84, UT MARTIN 75
MT. PLEASANT, Mich. - After controlling a majority of tonight's men's basketball game at Central Michigan, the University of Tennessee at Martin offense went cold in waning moments of an 84-75 loss to the Chippewas.
The Skyhawks held the nation's leading scoring squad to 11 points under their season scoring average, leading by double-digits during one stretch. The second half got tight as 14 ties and nine lead changes took place in the game before UT Martin led 75-73 with 4:59 to go. However, Central Michigan closed out the game on an 11-0 run from that point forward.
Parker Stewart led the Skyhawks (3-5) in scoring for the fourth time this season, tossing in 22 points with seven rebounds, three assists and two steals. Derek Hawthorne, Jr. collected 15 points while Craig Randall II (three assists) and Quintin Dove (game-high eight rebounds) each tallied 13 points for UT Martin.
Central Michigan (7-2) was led by Devontae Lane's 17 points while Kevin McKay (16 points), Dallas Morgan (14) and Travon Broadway, Jr. (10) also scored in double figures. The Chippewas shot 55 percent (11-of-20) from beyond the three-point arc and held a 30-10 advantage in free throw attempts.
The Skyhawks received a big lift early from Hannes Polla, who was making his UT Martin debut after being cleared by the NCAA to play last week. The center from the University of Oklahoma scored the Skyhawks' first four points before a Stewart trifecta made the score 7-2. Another Stewart trey at the 13:20 mark extended UT Martin's advantage out to 16-6 while Hawthorne soon followed with three-pointers on back-to-back possessions. Central Michigan didn't take its first lead of the contest until 2:23 remaining in the first half but the two sides were deadlocked at 42-all after Randall drained a three-pointer before the halftime break.
Hawthorne's 13 points paced all scorers in the first half as the Skyhawks shot 56.7 percent (17-of-30) from the floor. McKay secured 12 points for the Chippewas in the opening 20 minutes.
A longball from Eman Sertovic gave UT Martin the lead early in the second half but neither team would lead by more than three points until 1:18 remaining in the contest. Three-pointers by Randall and Stewart on consecutive trips down the floor made the score 61-58 in favor of the Skyhawks with 11 minutes to go. Dove caught fire with six points in a span of 1:19 – including a layup to give UT Martin a 75-73 advantage at the 4:59 mark. The Skyhawks' scoreless streak then occurred, as UT Martin went 0-for-7 from the field with one turnover to end the contest.