ST. CHARLES, Mo. – An uncharacteristically poor performance from the free throw line cost the University of Tennessee at Martin men’s basketball team this afternoon as Lindenwood hit a go-ahead three-pointer with 5.5 seconds to go to claim a 82-81 win at Robert F. Hyland Arena.
Entering the contest as the second-best free throw shooting team in the Ohio Valley Conference at 71.1 percent, the Skyhawks shot 50 percent (13-of-26) from the charity stripe today. UT Martin buried 14 three-pointers at a 45.2 percent clip and led by as many as 11 points in the second half but could not put the hosts away. The Lions were 0-for-6 from three-point range until the final 14 seconds of the game, hitting a pair of long-range jumpers to end the game on a 6-1 run.
Tarence Guinyard accounted for a team-high 18 points and three steals while Vladimer Salaridze (14 points, 13 rebounds, three assists, two steals) managed his sixth double-double of the season for the Skyhawks. Afan Trnka and Josué Grullon each added 14 points off the bench while Matija Žužić posted 10 points for UT Martin, who is now 7-10 and 3-3 in OVC play with all three conference setbacks coming by one point apiece.
Anias Futrell scored 24 of his game-high 26 points in the first half and also grabbed 10 rebounds for Lindenwood (8-9, 3-3 OVC). Markeith Browning II added 18 points while Jadis Jones’ 11 points rounded out the double-digit scorers for the Lions. With that said, Nathan Johnson, Jr. proved to be the hero as he nailed the eventual game-winning triple to complete the Lindenwood comeback.
“Lindenwood made a pair of tough shots late,” Skyhawk head coach Jeremy Shulman said. “We’re a great free throw shooting team but we missed a lot of shots from the line, even some from 80 to 90 percent shooters – sometimes it just happens like that. I did think we took a step backward defensively on this road trip and we’ll get better at that. We have great kids and I love this group – we’ll bounce back.”
Žužić and Guinyard each splashed three-pointers in the first 62 seconds of the game to help UT Martin take a 7-0 advantage. A trey from Trnka at the 15:32 mark kept the Skyhawk lead at seven points before the Lions took their first lead of the day with 12:25 to go before the halftime intermission.
Grullon gave UT Martin a spark in the waning moments of the half as the junior guard from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic swished four 3-pointers in a span of 4:12 – tilting the score back in favor of the Skyhawks at 39-35.
Johnson made his first buzzer-beater of the day to close out the first half as his three-pointer just before time expired gave Lindenwood a 42-40 edge at the break. Grullon (12 points) and Futrell (24) led their respective teams in scoring in the opening 20 minutes.
UT Martin seized a 46-44 advantage off a Salaridze three-pointer with 17:55 left to play and did not lose that lead until Johnson’s eventual game-winner with 5.5 seconds remaining.
A fast break layup from Salaridze at the 13:02 mark resulted in the largest lead of the game (62-51) for the Skyhawks. A free throw from Trnka with 6:31 to go kept UT Martin’s lead at double digits (69-59) but the Lions kept chipping away.
Trnka converted a pair of big jumpers in crunch time, giving UT Martin a 79-74 advantage with 35 seconds to go. However, Jalen Bouknight hit a three-pointer from the right corner with 14 seconds left to shave the Skyhawk lead to 80-79. After the Skyhawks split two free throws, Johnson made his trey from the right wing to give the Lions the win.
UT Martin will host its next two OVC opponents, beginning with a Thursday, Jan. 16 contest against Eastern Illinois. Tipoff from the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center is set for 7:30 p.m. (following the conclusion of the women’s basketball game).