The Skyhawk men’s basketball team opened up the 2019-20 season to a great start, steamrolling St. Louis College of Pharmacy (SLCP) 106-48 at the Elam Center.
UTM never trailed at point during the match, putting up 50 points in the first half and another 56 in the second. The Eutectics were held to a subpar 29% field goal shooting percentage and a 26.7% shooting three-point percentage over the course of the game.
As for the Skyhawks, the UTM squad managed to shoot a 56.3% field goal percentage with a 36.4% three-point percentage. The Skyhawks’ largest lead was held at the very end of the second half with a 58-point lead over the Eutectics.
Senior forward Quintin Dove led the Skyhawks in total points with 24 total points, going 10-15, missing his only three-point attempt. Senior guard Craig Randall II followed suit with 19 points of his own, shooting 6-13 in field goals but 0-3 on three-pointers.
Freshman guard Eman Sertovic led the Skyhawks in minutes played, playing nearly 30 minutes. Alongside his extensive playtime, Sertovic was also efficient in his offensive production, making three out of four of his field goal attempts and two out of three of his three-point attempts.
The Skyhawks forced the Eutectics to turn the ball over 31 times in an impressive defensive showing.
Along with Sertovic, the new faces on UTM’s roster also made an impact on the squad’s first game.
Junior forward Miles Thomas, a transfer from Walters State Community College, and freshman guard Ja’Darius Harris, also recorded double-digit points.
On the defensive side of the ball, newcomer and freshman center Eric Rustin recorded eight blocks, while sophomore guard Parker Stewart tallied four steals.
“I was overall pleased with the performance of the guys,” head coach Anthony Stewart said to Sports Information. “I’m concentrating on defense – we can be as good as we want to be if we get better with our defensive assignments, rotations, closeouts and block outs.”
“We made a conscious effort to come out with energy and enthusiasm on the defensive end. We’re still trying to figure some things out with different lineups and trying to build our chemistry so it was nice to see a bunch of guys get minutes tonight.”
The men’s basketball team will resume action on Nov. 9 to finish off their three-game home stand.
Photo credit/Aubree Weitzel
