The UTM men’s basketball team suffered through its worst offensive performance of the season as the Jacksonville State Gamecocks handed the Skyhawks a 75-61 defeat at the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center.
UTM was able to place four starters in double figures scoring but shot 36.1 percent (22-of-61) from the floor today, including a 9-of-32 effort (28.1 percent) from beyond the three-point arc. That resulted in a season-low 61 points for the Skyhawks, which was 16 points below their season scoring average heading into the contest.
Parker Stewart delivered a stat line of 16 points, seven assists and five rebounds for UTM, who falls to 7-16 (3-9 Ohio Valley Conference). Derek Hawthorne, Jr. snared the second double-double of his Skyhawk career with 13 points and 10 rebounds to go along with four assists and a pair of steals. The front-court tandem of Miles Thomas (13 points, eight rebounds) and Quintin Dove (10 points) rounded out UTM’s double-digit scorers.
Jacksonville State (10-15, 5-7 OVC) boasted a pair of high scorers in De’Torrion Ware (22 points) and Kayne Henry (20 points). The Gamecocks connected on 63.3 percent (19-for-30) of their field goal tries in the second half on their way to a 44-24 advantage in points in the paint.
“We had a bad start in the first half, primarily on offense,” UTM head coach Anthony Stewart said. “We didn’t play great defensively but we held Jacksonville State to 32 points. But I was really disappointed with our execution on offense. Our guys have to translate what we work on in practice to the game and we didn’t do that today.”
A Stewart three-pointer began the scoring for UTM and gave the Skyhawks their only lead of the day at the 18:19 mark of the first half. After a Ja’Darrius Harris fast break layup evened the score at 8-all, the Gamecocks went on a 10-0 run to create some separation. Three-pointers by Stewart and Thomas on back-to-back trips down the floor pulled UTM within four points (20-16) with eight minutes to go in the first half but Jacksonville State was able to stretch its lead out to 32-20 at the break.
Stewart’s six points in the opening 20 minutes led the way for the Skyhawks, who committed 10 first-half turnovers. Henry tossed in a game-high 12 points for the Gamecocks in the first stanza.
After Stewart splashed a trifecta from the left wing on UTM’s first possession of the second half, Jacksonville State managed to stretch its lead out to 43-27 at the 15:31 mark. The Skyhawks fought back as Hawthorne scored the final five points of an 8-0 UTM run as it closed to single digits with 12 minutes remaining. However, that was as close as the Skyhawks would get the rest of the way.
UTM now faces a split week in OVC play, as it travels to Southeast Missouri on Thursday, Feb. 13 before hosting Eastern Illinois on Saturday, Feb. 15.
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