By Ryne Rickman, UT Martin Sports Information Director
MARTIN, Tenn. – Sophomore Jordan Sears poured in a game-best 30 points plus tacked on team-highs of eight rebounds and three assists as the University of Tennessee at Martin men’s basketball team bested SIUE by a 90-84 margin at the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center.
A Daytona Beach, Fla. native, Sears reached the 30-point plateau for the second time this season in Ohio Valley Conference play while his eight boards equaled his career-high. The 5-11, 175-pound speedster knocked down 11 of his 18 field goal tries and went 8-for-10 from the free throw line to lead the team in scoring for the ninth time in the past 11 games.
Parker Stewart accounted for 18 points while Desmond Williams tied a season-high with 16 points off the bench to aid the Skyhawks (17-11, 9-6 OVC), who led for 34:38 of clock time.
With the victory, UT Martin improved to 14-1 inside the Elam Center in 2022-23 – tying the program’s NCAA Division I Era (since 1992) record for most home wins in a single season. The triumph also clinched a winning season for the Skyhawks – the seventh such campaign since UT Martin transitioned to the NCAA Division I level.
SIUE (17-11, 8-7 OVC) received 20 points out of Damarco Minor while Ray’Sean Taylor provided 18 points. DeeJuan Pruitt came away with a double-double (12 points, 10 rebounds) and Jalen Hodge tallied 13 points but the Skyhawks tripled up the Cougars in fast break points (18 to six).
“What a way to protect our home court,” Skyhawk head coach Ryan Ridder said. “If you told me we were going to score 90 points, I would have laughed – I thought this was going to be a slugfest in the 60’s. We shared the ball and played tough when we needed to. SIUE is a good team and that was a gritty, collective effort – that’s what conference wins look like.”
UT Martin rode the hot hands of Stewart and Williams in the first half as that duo sank 63.6 percent (7-for-11) of their three-point attempts. The Skyhawks held the Cougars without a field goal for the first four-plus minutes, jumping out to a 7-2 advantage.
Back-to-back three-pointers by Williams and a triple by Stewart – all coming within 46 seconds of each other – expanded UT Martin’s lead out to 20-9 and forced SIUE to burn a timeout at the 12:34 mark of the first half.
The Cougars answered with a 9-0 run and eventually took a brief 26-25 lead with six minutes to play before the halftime break.
The Skyhawks came right back with a 10-0 run of their own, wrapped up by trifectas out of Williams and Stewart on consecutive possessions. UT Martin eventually pushed its lead out to 11 points after a KJ Simon driving layup before settling for a 44-39 lead at the half.
Stewart (14 points) and Williams (10) already reached double figures in the scoring column in the opening 20 minutes while Minor, Lamar Wright and Jonathan Kurtas each scored seven points apiece for SIUE.
Sears scored 20 points alone in the game’s final 20 minutes. Following a Jalen Myers three-pointer from the left wing, Sears went off for 10 consecutive Skyhawk points but six unanswered Cougar points resulted in a 60-57 UT Martin deficit with 9:20 remaining.
Trailing by a slim 62-61 margin, the Skyhawks unreeled a 10-1 run that was completed by three-pointers out of KK Curry and Williams. SIUE wouldn’t get any closer than four points the rest of the way as a pair of Stewart free throws with 45 seconds to go put the finishing touches on an 8-1 run and provided UT Martin with its biggest lead of the evening (83-70).
The Cougars showed no signs of bowing out – hitting four 3-pointers in the final 25 seconds – but Myers, Sears and Williams combined to go 7-for-8 from the charity stripe down the stretch to seal the Skyhawk victory.
UT Martin heads across the state for its next contest, traveling to Tennessee Tech on Saturday, Feb. 18. Tipoff time from Cookeville is scheduled for approximately 3 p.m.
Graphic courtesy of UT Martin Sports Information