MARTIN, Tenn. – Jordan Sears took over in the second half tonight as the University of Tennessee at Martin overcame a halftime deficit to stay atop the Ohio Valley Conference men’s basketball standings with an 80-69 victory against Tennessee Tech.
Sears tossed in 20 points after the intermission to wrap up his evening with 28 points, seven assists and five rebounds. He was joined in double figures scoring by Desmond Williams (all 16 points in the first half), Jacob Crews (13 points, seven rebounds, three steals) and Issa Muhammad (ninth double-double of the season with 11 points, game-high 15 rebounds, three assists, two blocks).
The Golden Eagles (10-20, 5-12 OVC) saw Josiah Davis score 20 points while Diante Wood (15 points), Jayvis Harvey (12) and Kyle Layton (10) also posted double-digit scoring tallies.
With tonight’s win, the Skyhawks clinched a 20-win season for only the ninth time in school history and fifth time in the school’s NCAA Division I Era (also accomplishing that feat in 2016-17, 2015-16, 2014-15, 2008-09). UT Martin remained in a three-way tie for first place at 13-4 with Morehead State and Little Rock and will play for a share of its second OVC regular season championship in school history at home on Saturday.
“In the first half at one point we were 1-for-14 in two-pointers, we just couldn’t put the ball in the bucket,” Skyhawk head coach Ryan Ridder said. “Ultimately our guys came out and did what they’ve done – which is find different ways to win. We just needed to relax and in the second half we took a deep breath, came out and played our tails off. I thought we got back to what we’ve been doing defensively in the last couple months.”
Tennessee Tech went on a 10-0 run early until Williams’ third trey of the first half helped UT Martin eventually even the score at 18-all.
The Golden Eagles scored the next eight points of the contest and led by nine points with 63 seconds remaining in the opening half before Williams caught fire once again. The senior guard out of Montgomery, Ala. was responsible for the Skyhawks’ final seven points of the opening stanza. That included a three-pointer from the right corner with four seconds left that whittled Tennessee Tech’s lead to 36-32 at the break.
Williams’ 16 points led all scorers at the half while Davis had 10 points to guide the Golden Eagles.
UT Martin scored 11 unanswered points during the early portion of the second half, flipping a seven-point deficit into a four-point lead after a Crews fast break trifecta – his second three-pointer of the run – with 15:44 to go.
After a Muhammad tip-in extended the Skyhawk advantage to 49-43 at the 13:33 mark, Tennessee Tech went on an 11-0 run of its own to briefly reclaim the lead.
The game of runs continued as UT Martin pieced together 12 unanswered points once again to take the lead for good. Sears swished a stepback triple – his second of the run – that gave the Skyhawks a 61-54 advantage with 7:49 left to play.
The Golden Eagles would not get any closer than six points the rest of the way. A Sears driving layup on a fast break with just under four minutes remaining gave UT Martin its biggest lead of the night (72-59) as the Skyhawks coasted to the finish line.
The regular season finale is a “White Out” set for Saturday, March 2 as UT Martin clashes against OVC rival Tennessee State. Tipoff at the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center is set for 3:30 p.m. as KK Curry, Muhammad and Williams will be honored as part of Senior Day festivities prior to tipoff.
