CHARLESTON, Ill. – In a wild game with multiple second-half scoring runs on both sides, the University of Tennessee at Martin men’s basketball team hung on for a big 72-68 triumph over Eastern Illinois this afternoon at Groniger Arena.
UT Martin led by as many as 20 points late in the first half before taking a 41-24 advantage into the locker room at the intermission. The Panthers answered right back with a 21-0 run in the second half, eventually leading by six points with five minutes to go. It was then the Skyhawks’ turn to seize the momentum back, tallying nine unanswered points down the stretch before making just enough free throws in the final 24 seconds for a season sweep of Eastern Illinois.
Afan Trnka came up just shy of his first career double-double with career-highs of 18 points and nine assists to go along with a game-high three steals for UT Martin (12-15, 8-8 Ohio Valley Conference). Vladimer Salaridze registered his eighth double-double of the season with 16 points and a game-high 12 rebounds while Tarence Guinyard poured in 11 of his 13 points in the first half for the Skyhawks.
The Panthers (8-19, 4-12 OVC) were led by Nakyel Shelton’s game-high 25 points. Artese Stapleton (16 points), Zion Fruster (13 points) and Kooper Jacobi (11 rebounds) also led Eastern Illinois, who was a perfect 13-for-13 from the free throw line but was outrebounded by a 39-28 margin.
“I give a ton of credit to Afan,” UT Martin head coach Jeremy Shulman said. “He’s a young sophomore and I have so much belief in that kid – he was in the gym a lot this week putting in extra work. I told our team at halftime that Eastern Illinois was coming for us and we didn’t match their intensity and panicked a little bit early in the second half. We finally settled in and went with an unconventional lineup down the stretch to come away with the win.”
Guinyard scored the first five points of the contest, doing so in just 59 seconds. Moments later, Salaridze pumped in seven points as part of a 14-2 Skyhawk run that opened up a 23-10 UT Martin advantage with just under eight minutes remaining in the first half.
Four different Skyhawks (Filip Radaković cutting layup, Matija Žužić left-wing three-pointer, Guinyard strong take to the hoop and Lamine Niang dunk) scored as part of a separate 9-0 run just before halftime as UT Martin took a 41-24 advantage into the locker room. The Skyhawks shot 51.4 percent (18-for-35) from the floor while holding the Panthers to 30.8 percent (8-of-26) shooting in the opening 20 minutes.
After a Guinyard driving layup stretched UT Martin’s lead out to 18 points early in the second half, Eastern Illinois pieced together 21 unanswered points to take its first lead of the day.
Trnka buried a straightaway trey at the 10:28 mark to snap a Skyhawk scoring drought that lasted a little over eight minutes. He then followed that with a steal and fast break dunk to give UT Martin the lead right back at 50-48.
Another Trnka triple shortly thereafter gave the Skyhawks a 54-51 advantage with 7:58 remaining but the Panthers went on another run – this time an 11-2 surge – to take a 62-56 lead at the 5:10 mark.
Salaridze scored seven of UT Martin’s next 10 points, including a pair of free throws that nudged the Skyhawks ahead by a score of 66-64 with 1:31 to go. Following a defensive stand, Andrija Bukumirović muscled up to convert a tough, contested layup on the other end. Trnka and Žužić then sank four free throws in the final 24 seconds to seal UT Martin’s third straight victory in the last eight days.
The Skyhawks come back home for three of their last four games of the regular season, beginning with a Tuesday, Feb. 18 matchup against Tennessee State. Tipoff time against the in-state OVC foe is set for 7:30 p.m., following the conclusion of the women’s basketball game as part of a doubleheader.
