By Ryne Rickman, UT Martin Sports Information Director
MARTIN, Tenn. – Parker Stewart poured in a career-best 34 points – including a pair of clutch free throws with five seconds remaining – to boost the University of Tennessee at Martin men’s basketball squad to an 86-83 triumph over McNeese at the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center.
Stewart’s 34 points came on a remarkably efficient 11-of-15 shooting performance, which included a 7-for-10 effort from three-point range to tie a career-high in treys. He was a perfect 5-of-5 from the charity stripe while adding a team-high seven rebounds and three assists in 35 minutes of playing time.
KJ Simon tossed in 17 of his season-high 22 points in the second half tonight while Desmond Williams swished four 3-pointers on his way to 12 points for the Skyhawks (4-4). Koby Jeffries provided a game-high six assists in 15 minutes off the bench for UT Martin, who won its fourth straight home decision after shooting 44.8 percent (13-of-29) from three-point range and committing only eight turnovers.
McNeese (2-5) was led by 29 points and five assists out of Trae English while Christian Shumate tallied a double-double of 17 points and 11 rebounds. Johnathan Massie rounded out the double-digit scorers with 11 points, five rebounds and five assists for the Cowboys, who shot 29.6 percent (8-of-27) from the free throw line.
“Give our guys credit – this is a group, like everyone in college basketball, that’s trying to find ways to win down the stretch,” Skyhawk head coach Ryan Ridder said. “If you look at the numbers, we had 17 assists and eight turnovers so we felt really good about our offense. Defensively we weren’t spectacular down the stretch but we’re growing – we found a way to win another close one.”
UT Martin led for 31:23 of clock time but it was McNeese who came out as the aggressors. In a prelude of things to come, Stewart splashed a three-pointer on the game’s opening possession but the Cowboys answered back with a 14-3 run with a dozen of those points coming from English.
A Stewart trifecta – already his fourth of the contest – at the 12:46 mark evened the score at 18-all. Williams knocked down a three-pointer with 11:01 left to play in the first half to give the Skyhawks a lead they would not relinquish the rest of the way. Williams’ triple ignited a stretch of 16 unanswered points in a 5:30 span, which included two more treys from Stewart.
After UT Martin led by as many as 14 points in the opening half, the Skyhawks settled for a 39-32 advantage at the break. Stewart accounted for 18 points on 6-of-7 shooting from downtown while English registered 16 points to pace McNeese.
The Cowboys began the second half on an 8-1 run to knot the score at 40-40 but Stewart soon took over once again. The graduate guard out of Union City, Tenn. piled up 12 of UT Martin’s next 15 points – reaching the 30-point plateau with 12 minutes remaining in the contest.
With the McNeese defense keying in on Stewart, Simon took over. The senior southpaw from Orlando, Fla. scored 15 of 20 Skyhawk points during a stretch of 6:43 – helping UT Martin build back up a 77-70 advantage with a little over three minutes to go.
KK Curry followed with four consecutive Skyhawk points to help push the lead out to nine points but a 13-5 Cowboy run resulted in a one-point game (84-83) with eight seconds left. Coming out of a timeout, UT Martin inbounded the ball to Stewart – who calmly converted a pair of free throws to make the score 86-83. The Skyhawks then buckled down defensively, forcing a 35-foot pull-up three-point heave that clanged off the rim and into the waiting hands of Stewart as time expired.
UT Martin goes back on the road for its next outing, traveling to UNC Asheville on Saturday, Dec. 3 for a 1 p.m. CST contest.
Graphic courtesy of UT Martin Sports Information