A stingy defensive unit was on full display this evening as UTM downed Eastern Illinois, 51-41, in an Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) men’s basketball matchup.
The 41 points allowed tonight are the fewest by any Skyhawk team against a NCAA Division I opponent in school history. The last time a UTM squad allowed fewer points was a 115-29 win over Champion Baptist (a member of the Association of Christian College Athletics) on Nov. 20, 2014. The Skyhawks held Eastern Illinois to 28.1 percent shooting (16-of-57), including a 3-for-24 effort (12.5 percent) from three-point range.
Jaron Williams topped UTM in scoring for the second straight game, pouring in a game-high 17 points. Vinnie Viana (11 points) also reached double figures in the scoring column for the second consecutive outing while Ajani Kennedy hauled in a career-high 14 rebounds for the Skyhawks, who improve to 5-9 overall with a 3-7 OVC record.
Eastern Illinois (5-12, 2-8 OVC) were led by Deang Deang’s 14 points. Josiah Wallace tacked on 11 points for the Panthers, who dressed only seven players because of injuries and COVID-19 protocols.
“I’m extremely proud of our guys,” UTM interim head coach Montez Robinson said. “It was a gut night for us – we had limited players and there were guys who played a lot of minutes that are banged up. This win was a testament to these guys – we have one of our better players (Cameron Holden) and our inside presence (Hannes Polla) sitting out but our guys are playing with confidence. We’re trying to put together multiple wins in a row to see how far this run can go.”
After Eastern Illinois scored on its first possession, buckets by Kenton Eskridge, Anthony Thomas and Kennedy provided the Skyhawks with a 6-3 lead. A driving fast break layup by Viana at the 12:17 mark stretched UT Martin’s advantage out to 13-7.
The Panthers answered back to score the next 11 points of the contest but the Skyhawks ended the first half on a 13-0 run. A Kennedy dunk ignited the spurt while back-to-back trifectas from Williams closed out UTM’s rally which resulted in a 26-18 advantage at the break.
Williams’ eight points paced the Skyhawks while Deang had 10 points to carry Eastern Illinois in the opening 20 minutes.
A pull-up jumper by Williams began the scoring in the second half and resulted in UTM’s first double-digit lead of the night (28-18). The Panthers reeled off six unanswered points before a big three-pointer by Dante Gonzales at the 15:23 mark pushed the Skyhawk advantage back out to seven.
Eman Sertovic converted a tough left-handed runner in the lane to make the score 36-28 in favor of UTM but Eastern Illinois kept battling. With the Skyhawk lead whittled down to two points (39-37) with eight minutes to go, Viana nailed a pair of three-pointers to keep the Panthers at bay.
Eastern Illinois wouldn’t get any closer than four points in the final two minutes as an emphatic Williams breakaway dunk with 13 seconds to go put the exclamation point on the UTM win.
The Skyhawks continue their six-game homestand with their third game in five days on Saturday, Jan. 30. UTM will play host to the SIUE Cougars at 4 p.m., following the women’s basketball game as the backend of a doubleheader.
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