MARTIN, Tenn. – Jalen Myers turned in his second double-double in a University of Tennessee at Martin uniform this evening to pace a well-balanced scoring attack in a 104-76 win in the men’s basketball season opener over Champion Christian.
Myers secured 15 points and a game-high 10 rebounds in just 19 minutes tonight, helping the Skyhawks to a 57-35 advantage on the glass while outscoring the visiting Tigers by a 64-24 margin in the paint.
Justus Jackson scored a team-high 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting while Jacob Crews (16 points, three treys) and Issa Muhammad (15 points, seven rebounds) also enjoyed successful UT Martin debuts. Preseason All-Ohio Valley Conference honorees Jordan Sears (14 points, five rebounds, game-high five assists) and KK Curry (11 points on 5-for-5 shooting, eight rebounds) rounded out the double-digit scorers for the Skyhawks, who shot 50.6 percent (42-of-83) from the floor and 83.3 percent (10-for-12) from the free throw line.
A National Christian College Athletic Association program located in Hot Springs, Ark., Champion Christian (2-1) was led by AJ Williams’ 22 points, five assists and four steals. KJ Younge also collected 20 points for the Tigers, who were forced into 21 turnovers.
“It feels good to just be back in the Elam Center – this is a place we had a lot of success in last year,” UT Martin head coach Ryan Ridder said. “As a group, I thought we were really unselfish – in these types of games when you get big leads, sometimes you see some selfishness show and I didn’t see that tonight. We have quality players and I’m excited to see how this thing goes as we gel together.”
The Skyhawks led from the tip, racing out to an 11-0 lead following seven quick points from Sears. Crews swished three trifectas in a 52-second span to build UT Martin’s lead out to 20-5 with 15:45 to go in the first half.
Ten consecutive Skyhawk buckets were layups or dunks over a six-minute stretch before a Muhammad three-pointer snapped that streak and made the score 49-24 at the 4:22 mark of the opening half.
Yet another driving layup from Sears with three seconds remaining in the first half led to a 53-28 halftime advantage for UT Martin. Muhammad accounted for game-highs in points (11) and rebounds (four) at the break as the Skyhawks held Champion Christian to 31.4 percent shooting (11-for-35).
An alley-oop fast break dunk from Crews to Sears at the 18:31 mark extended the UT Martin advantage to 61-31.
The Skyhawks knocked down four straight three-pointers to race out to their biggest lead of the evening – 79-44 with a little under 13 minutes to go. Jackson hit two of the four treys while Sebastian Mendoza and Myers were on target for the other three-balls.
A driving layup by Koby Jeffries at the 1:47 mark nudged UT Martin over the century mark on the scoreboard as the Skyhawks put the finishing touches on a dominant victory.
UT Martin heads to Mississippi State on Saturday, Nov. 11 for a matchup that will be streamed on SEC Network Plus. Tipoff from Starkville, Miss. is set for 4 p.m.
