MARTIN, Tenn. – A dominant performance out of junior swingman Jacob Crews helped the University of Tennessee at Martin men’s basketball team pull away for a 90-72 triumph over Brescia at the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center.
A Hilliard, Fla. native, Crews went off for career-highs of 24 points and 17 rebounds. The 6-8, 210-pounder made eight of his 12 shot attempts (including four treys) and went a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line in 30 minutes of playing time. In the process, he became the first Skyhawk to register 20-plus points and 15 or more rebounds since Cameron Holden (20 points, 16 rebounds) against Murray State on Jan. 16, 2021.
Crews was joined in double figures scoring by teammates Jordan Sears (19 points on 7-for-12 shooting), KK Curry (13 points aided by a 7-of-9 effort from the free throw line), Justus Jackson (10 points in 17 minutes) and Jalen Myers (10 points, eight rebounds in 21 minutes). UT Martin (2-1) knocked down 85.2 percent (23-for-27) of their attempts from the charity stripe and never trailed in the contest, leading for 39:01 of clock time.
A NAIA school located in Owensboro, Ky., Brescia placed four players in double-digit scoring. Gonzalo Luque managed a team-best 19 points and was followed by Ksuan Casey (16), Taeron Hogg (14) and Camden Pfeister (10). The Bearcats were a perfect 10-for-10 from the free throw line but shot just 37.5 percent (30-of-80) overall with a 11.8 percent (2-for-17) success rate from three-point land.
“We found a way to get the win,” Skyhawk head coach Ryan Ridder said. “We have a lot of work to do – just like everybody else right now at this point in the season. Jacob plays hard every single day of his life – it’s not just when the lights come on. He is constantly competing – everybody is going to be blown away because he can score the basketball but he does a lot of things outside of scoring that helps our team win.”
UT Martin scored the first six points of the contest and led by a 20-12 margin after Crews pumped in nine points in the first 6:40.
Brescia came back to even the score at 28-all until Sears had the hot hand – accounting for eight of the Skyhawks’ next 11 points as UT Martin stretched its lead back out to seven with four minutes remaining in the opening half.
Jackson found Crews in the left corner for a trifecta right before the halftime buzzer to make the score 46-38 in favor of the Skyhawks at the break.
Crews and Sears had 17 and 12 points, respectively, to guide UT Martin in the opening 20 minutes while the Bearcat trio of Luque, Hogg and Casey each had 10 points to combine for 30 of the team’s 38 points.
Crews connected on a three-pointer just 86 seconds into the second half to give the Skyhawks their first double-digit lead (51-41) of the night.
Brescia had one final run in them as it pulled within five points (59-54) at the 11:16 mark but that was ultimately as close as the Bearcats would get the rest of the way.
An old-fashioned three-point play by Issa Muhammad led to a 10-0 surge for UT Martin as four different players provided points during the run.
Jalen Myers soon unreeled seven straight Skyhawk points before a David Kamwanga mid-range jumper from the left side gave UT Martin its biggest lead of the evening (88-68) with 1:38 to go.
The Skyhawks go on the road for their next two outings, taking part in the EKU Classic in Richmond, Ky. UT Martin will play the first two games of the multi-team event, battling tournament host Eastern Kentucky on Friday, Nov. 17 before squaring off against Prairie View A&M on Sunday, Nov. 19.
