MARTIN, Tenn. – A swarming defense presence bookended the University of Tennessee at Martin’s 65-61 victory over Ohio Valley Conference foe Eastern Illinois at the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center today.
The Skyhawks held the Panthers to 0-for-12 shooting with four turnovers in the opening 10:50, racing out to a nine-point lead in the opening half. Eastern Illinois then bounced back to lead by seven at the halftime break and eventually took a 58-50 advantage with 6:32 remaining. UT Martin’s defense then took over once again, holding the Panthers to 1-of-6 shooting with four turnovers over the final 5:43 to end the contest on a 15-3 run.
Matas Deniusas scored 11 consecutive points in a 5:37 span down the stretch for the Skyhawks – including a go-ahead three-pointer with 59 seconds to go. The freshman out of Vilnius, Lithuania posted 19 points and a career-best nine rebounds while Pedro Santos and Afan Trnka tallied 11 points apiece for the Skyhawks (11-4, 3-1 OVC).
Andrija Bukumirović was a key factor in UT Martin’s defensive success today, compiling a final stat line of seven points and career-highs of 14 rebounds, six blocks, four assists and four steals. The Skyhawks shot 84.6 percent (22-of-26) from the charity stripe and limited Eastern Illinois to 6-for-23 (26.1 percent) shooting from the field in the second half.
The Panthers fell to 4-10 and 1-3 in OVC play as they were guided by the bench duo of Zion Fruster (17 points, four assists) and Kooper Jacobi (16 points, seven rebounds). Meechie White additionally came away with 12 points and five steals in a game that featured 10 lead changes and seven tie scores.
“We’ve been really good in the last four minutes of games,” UT Martin head coach Jeremy Shulman. “I was outcoached for a lot of the game today but I just love these guys – their toughness and ability to making winning plays really showed up when it mattered down the stretch.”
Santos carried the Skyhawks early, scoring 11 of UT Martin’s first 13 points of the game. Deniusas followed with a trifecta at the 10:37 mark in the first half, extending the Skyhawk lead out to 16-7.
Eastern Illinois scored the next nine points but a pair of Filip Radaković free throws pushed UT Martin’s advantage back out to 25-19 with 6:41 to go before the halftime break. The Panthers responded with an 8-0 run and later scored seven unanswered points in a 61-second span to take a 41-34 lead into the locker room. Santos and Fruster each had game-highs of 11 points apiece to lead their respective squads.
An old-fashioned three-point play by Deniusas and six straight points from Trnka opened the Skyhawk scoring in the second half. A Deniusas floater in the lane with 9:23 left to play gave UT Martin its first lead of the second half at 50-48.
Eastern Illinois came back with 10 consecutive points to match its biggest lead of the day at 58-50 with 6:32 to go. Deniusas soon went off while the Skyhawk defense made plays left and right – including a pair of shot-clock violations before a Trnka steal with UT Martin clinging to a 63-61 lead with nine seconds to go.
Ty Price calmly knocked down a pair of huge free throws to make it a four-point game with 1.3 seconds remaining, icing the comeback victory for UT Martin.
The Skyhawks now head on the road for their next two outings, starting with a Thursday, Jan. 8 matchup at Morehead State. Tipoff from Ellis T. Johnson Arena is set for 6:30 p.m. CT.
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