WEDNESDAY'S SCORES
@UT Martin 71, Westminster 59
@Chattanooga 68, Eastern Kentucky 54
Murray State 82, @SIU Edwardsville 51
@Tennessee Tech 95, Union College 46
@Alabama 77, Tennessee State 65
UT MARTIN 71, WESTMINSTER 59
MARTIN, Tenn. - Junior guard Reuben Clayton led four double-digit scorers for The University of Tennessee at Martin as the Skyhawks outlasted Westminster College 71-59 at the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center tonight.
Clayton's 20 points were one short of his career-high, as the Memphis native continued his hot streak from beyond the three-point arc, nailing four of his seven attempts from long-range. After beginning the season 2-for-26 from three-point range over the first four games, Clayton has now hit 18 of his 42 (43 percent) three-point attempts in the last six games. Clayton also pulled down eight rebounds for the Skyhawks, tying his previous career-high set against Central Arkansas on Dec. 12.
Sophomore MJ Brown enjoyed an outstanding all-around performance, scoring 14 points with eight rebounds, four assists and four steals. Benzor Simmons scored 13 points and pulled down eight rebounds, while Terrance Coleman came off the bench to score 11 points for UT Martin, who shot 42 percent from the floor (26-for-62).
The UT Martin defense held the Blue Jays to just 34 percent shooting (19-for-56) for the game. The physical Skyhawks outrebounded Westminster 45-33 and also outscored the Blue Jays 34-16 in the paint.
Jake Vislay's 19 points paced Westminster, while Stanley Crawford pitched in 14 points and Kurt Kovach scored 12 points and grabbed a game-high nine rebounds.
"We didn't play particularly well but we played well enough to win," UT Martin head coach Jason James said. "Anytime you can get a win - especially on your home floor - it's beneficial for us. This is something we can build on and hopefully carry into next week when we go to Murray."
After a Vislay jumper opened the game, the Skyhawks answered with a 9-2 run and never trailed from that point on. A lay-up by Brown at the 16:34 mark gave UT Martin a five-point lead, but Westminster came back to tie the game on two separate occasions before a Simmons jumper put the Skyhawks up 15-13.
That jumper ignited a 13-0 run for UT Martin, capped off by a fast break layup by Cataurius Taylor to give the Skyhawks its biggest lead of the first half at 28-13 with 8:36 left.
Westminster answered back with a 7-2 run over a stretch of 3:18 to get back to within eight points, but the Skyhawks pushed its lead out to 11 points at the halftime break on a fast break layup from Coleman and a long jumper from Simmons that just beat the first half buzzer.
At the break, Simmons (11 points) and Clayton (10 points) paced UT Martin, while Vislay and Kovach had 12 and 10 points, respectively, for Westminster. The Skyhawks shot 46 percent from the floor but Westminster stayed in the game by making 10 of its 11 free throw attempts. UT Martin gained the advantage in the turnover battle in the first half, committing only two turnovers while scoring 12 points off Westminster's eight turnovers.
The Skyhawk lead fluctuated from 11 to 13 points for the first 6:30 of the second half before a three-pointer from Vislay off a steal got the Blue Jays back to within 10 points at 46-36. UT Martin responded right back with a quick 8-0 run over the next 1:42 that prompted Westminster head coach Matt Mitchell to call a timeout.
After the two teams swapped baskets out of the timeout, Westminster then put together a 15-2 run ending with a jumper from Kovach that made the score 58-53 with 5:09 left to play. However, Clayton answered with his fourth trey of the night on the next possession to push the Skyhawk lead back out to eight.
A defensive stop by UT Martin led to a lay-up on the other end by Brown to make the score 63-53 with 4:08 to go, but the Blue Jays scored the game's next six points - five by Crawford - to cut the lead to 63-59.
UT Martin then ended the game on an 8-0 run, as Simmons, Brown, Taylor and Coleman iced the game by hitting 8-of-10 free throws over the last three minutes to help the Skyhawks end its seven-game skid and give the team some momentum heading into Ohio Valley Conference play.
CHATTANOOGA 68, EASTERN KENTUCKY 54
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) - Ty Patterson scored 22 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, and Chattanooga beat Eastern Kentucky 68-54 on Wednesday night to win the Dr Pepper Classic.
Keegan Bell added 20 points and eight rebounds for the Mocs (8-6), who won their third game in a row. The Mocs held a 46-32 rebounding edge and held the Colonels (8-4) to 31.7 percent shooting from the field (19 for 60).
Chattanooga held a 16-piont lead with less than 2 minutes remaining in the first half, but the Colonels rallied to take a 38-37 lead on a 3-pointer by Justin Stommes with 13:08 remaining in the game.
The Mocs bounced back and led 51-48 with 7:10 to play and went on a 17-6 run to close out the game.
Stommes led the Colonels with 14 points and Justin Jones added 12. It was the third loss in the past four games for the Colonels.
MURRAY STATE 82, SIU EDWARDSVILLE 51
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Murray State used a 31-7 run over 10 minutes of the second half to rally past Southern Illinois University Edwardsville 82-51 at the Vadalabene Center.
A crowd of 2,281 watched as Murray State, ranked No. 17 in the nation in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major poll, pushed past the Cougars in the second half.
The Cougars, 2-12, were down 36-30 at halftime and cut the lead to two points on a jumper in the paint by Denykco Bowles with 15:12 to play. Down 40-38, the Racers would outscore the Cougars 42-13 for the rest of the contest.
Murray State, 10-3, scored 45 points off the bench led by 17 from Isaiah Canann and 13 from Donte Poole. Tony Easley and Isacc Miles scored 12 and 10 points, respectively, for the Racers. Murray State shot 62.5 percent from the field for the game.
SIUE picked up 11 points from Mark Yelovich, who tied Bowles for the team lead in rebounding with seven.
The Cougars were outrebounded 32-30 but outrebounded their opponents on the offensive glass for the first time this season. SIUE used 15 offensive boards to gain 12 second-chance points.
TENNESSEE TECH 95, UNION COLLEGE 46
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - The Tennessee Tech men's basketball team has won three games in a row following a 95-46 triumph Wednesday night over Union College in Eblen Center. Coming up Saturday, coach Mike Sutton's squad looks to make it four straight when it returns to Ohio Valley Conference play with a visit to Southeast Missouri.
On Wednesday night, Union took an early seven-point lead but once the Golden Eagles got untracked it quickly turned into a lopsided contest. With 95 points against the Bulldogs, Tech (6-6) has averaged nearly 92 points in its last four home contests.
Senior Frank Davis led Tech in scoring with 23 points, just one short of his career-high, and also added five rebounds and three assists. He went 5-for-9 from long range.
Several other Golden Eagles did record career-high numbers in the game. Senior point guard Elijah Muhammad scored 17 points for a career-high effort, and added six assists and three steals. Sophomore Bassey Inameti's (photo below) 14 points and four blocked shots were both career-bests numbers, and freshman Terrell Barnes had career-highs of 10 rebounds and three blocked shots. Sophomore walk-on Riley Hunley had career numbers in points (4), rebounds (7), assists (5) and steals (2).
In addition to Davis, Muhammad and Inameti, sophomore Kevin Murphy also scored in double digits with 15 points and snatched a career-best three steals.
Tech shot 50.7 percent for the game and 43.5 percent (10-for-23) from long distance. The Golden Eagles also owned a 50-28 rebound advantage.
Union had balanced scoring, getting eight points from five different players and six from a sixth. Dan Penick led the way with eight points and five rebounds, while Darrel Jackson, Payton Ponzer, Beau Brown and Shawn Hadley also scored eight.
The Bulldogs shot 30.9 percent from the field.
Ponzer hit a 3-pointer for a 7-0 Bluefield lead, and Jackson's 3-pointer a few seconds later made it a 10-3 Bulldog edge. That set the stage for the Golden Eagles to run through a 23-2 stretch to take control.
Muhammad scored five straight points and Jud Dillard hit a layup with 13:43 on the clock to tie the contest at 12-12. Davis broke the tie and both Inameti and Murphy converted three-point plays.
Up by 13 with 7:26 remaining, the Golden Eagles had a 16-0 run eight consecutive from Davis and 3-pointers by Murphy and Muhammad, making it a 44-15 Tech lead. The Golden Eagles were up 46-21 at the intermission.
Tech's lead grew to 30 in the first two minutes of the second half and the Golden Eagles were on top by 41 points with 11:12 remaining. The final 49-point margin was the largest lead of the contest.
ALABAMA 77, TENNESSEE STATE 65
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The Tennessee State University Tigers crept within two points, 53-55, with 7:16 remaining before falling victim to a 24-10 run by Alabama, dropping, 77-65, in Coleman Coliseum on Wednesday night (12/30).
TSU loses their second straight while shooting 39 percent from the floor overall and a season-high, 49 percent, from the three-point arc.
Josh Sain led TSU in scoring with 18 points, hitting 5-of-8 from the outside. Wil Peters posted 16 points and Jacquan Nobles accounted for 15-of-25 points from the reserves. Robert Covington pulled in a game-high, nine rebounds, and Jeremiah Crutcher dished out five assists.
The Tigers (3-10) led during the first seven minutes of the game, 13-11 (13:02), and recaptured the lead twice with 10:30 (15-14) and 4:24 (24-23) remaining. The Tigers shot 46 percent, 5-of-11, from behind the arc in the half, but, trailed 30-26 at the intermission.
TSU's early foul trouble played its toll in the second half. Alabama (9-4) scored 16-of-19 from the charity stripe in the second half to help manage a comfortable lead. With 9:48 on the clock and trailing, 51-41, TSU used a 10-4 run sparked by a Lonnie Funderburke dunk to fight back into the ball game.
The Tigers would only score three points in the next four minutes with Alabama's JaMychal Green tallying 14 second-half points to ward off the Big Blue's comeback.
For UA, Green led all scorers with 19 points (8-of-11) to go along with eight rebounds. Senario Hillman followed with 15 points, Mikhail Torrance chipped in 14 points, and Justin Knox scored 10 points.
The Crimson Tide shot 56 percent from the floor and 50 percent from the three-point arc after shooting 29 percent from long range in the first half.