Ajani Kennedy capped off a career-high scoring night with a step-back three-pointer just before time expired that sent the UTM men’s basketball team home a winner, 76-75 over Austin Peay.
The Skyhawks (7-11, 5-9 Ohio Valley Conference) played arguably their best game of the season against the league’s preseason favorite. UTM hit nine 3-pointers in the opening 20 minutes on its way to a 43-31 halftime lead and did not panic after the Governors built up an eight-point lead as late as nine minutes to go in the contest. As a result, the Skyhawks improved to 5-0 on the season when the game is decided by single digits.
Kennedy’s heroics were the story of the night as the redshirt junior out of Moreno Valley, California, sealed the win after a career-best 22 points and team-high six rebounds. With UTM trailing by two points with 2.3 seconds left, Kenton Eskridge lobbed a high inbounds pass to Cameron Holden, who immediately found Kennedy at the top of the key. The 6-9, 225-pound southpaw took a step back and let it fly as the ball found nothing but net to send the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center into a frenzy.
In addition to Kennedy, the UTM backcourt tandem of Eman Sertovic and Vinnie Viana each established career-highs with 15 points. Holden was also a primary facilitator of the Skyhawk offense tonight as he equaled his career-high with seven assists for UTM, who was a perfect 11-for-11 from the free throw line.
Austin Peay (11-8, 7-6 OVC) was led by Terry Taylor’s 17 points and 12 rebounds although the Preseason OVC Player of the Year was held scoreless until 1:20 to go in the opening half. Tai’Reon Joseph accounted for a team-high 18 points while Jordyn Adams (12 points) and Elton Walker (11) also scored in double figures.
“I’m ecstatic – what these guys were able to do tonight, putting together two halves and bouncing back from the punch they gave us was resilient,” Skyhawk interim head coach Montez Robinson said. “Ajani was on fire tonight – give him all the credit to him for making those shots. There’s no quit in this bunch – our guys stayed together, kept fighting and never lost the faith.”
In what was perhaps a sign of things to come, Kennedy splashed a three-pointer for the first points of the contest at the 18:48 mark. The Governors were able to take a 15-9 advantage shortly after the under-12 media timeout but Viana drained back-to-back triples and Sertovic buried a trifecta at the 8:56 mark to tilt the score in favor of UTM.
The Skyhawks led 29-28 with 3:53 to go before the halftime break but exploded for a big momentum boost going into the locker room. Viana (three-pointer), Jaron Williams (jumper in the paint), Holden (second-chance layup), Sertovic (three-pointer), Anthony Thomas (second-chance layup) and Hannes Polla (layup) gave UTM a half-dozen different scorers during a 14-3 run to wrap up the first half.
Sertovic and Viana both had nine first-half points for the Skyhawks, who shot 60 percent (9-of-15) from three-point range. Austin Peay was guided by Joseph’s nine points as the Governors were 1-for-11 from beyond the three-point arc in the opening half.
Austin Peay started the second half on a 14-2 run, quickly tying the score at 45-all with 15:15 remaining. Meanwhile, Kennedy was quietly brewing up a big performance as he was responsible for UTM’s first 11 points of the second half to keep the Skyhawks in it.
Taylor’s 14th point in the first 10-plus minutes of the second half resulted in the Governors’ biggest lead of the evening at 64-56. Viana then came up huge for UTM with back-to-back old-fashioned three-point plays after driving layups that whittled the Skyhawk deficit down to 66-64.
Facing a five-point deficit with under two minutes to go, UTM stayed the course. Sertovic sank two free throws and after a forced turnover, Kennedy connected on a deep three-pointer to knot the game at 73-73.
Taylor went 2-for-2 from the charity stripe with 14 seconds left to give Austin Peay a 75-73 advantage. Kennedy had a potential game-winning three-pointer from the right corner that was just off target but Holden hustled for the offensive rebound before throwing the ball off a Governor defender out of bounds. After a brief review, the referees placed 2.3 seconds on the clock and Kennedy’s second opportunity at glory was true.
In a rare quirk to the rearranged schedule, the Skyhawks will face this same Governors squad on Thursday, Feb. 11 in Clarksville. Tipoff from the Dunn Center is scheduled for 7:30 p.m., following the women’s basketball contest.
