The UTM men’s basketball team defeated the Southeast Missouri Redhawks 81-72 on Thursday, Feb. 14 in Martin.
Following this victory, the Skyhawks have improved to 4-9 in OVC play and now find themselves on a three-game winning streak.
For UTM, junior guard Preston Parks led the Skyhawks in points, scoring 26 points and going 8-13 on field goals. Parks also led the team in minutes played, had the second-most total rebounds (6) and second-most assists (5).
Senior center Jailen Gill had a strong defensive game, as he led the team in total rebounds (8), defensive rebounds (7) and steals (2).
Senior guard Delfincko Bogan also had a notable offensive performance for the Skyhawks, scoring the second-most points (17), third-most assists (5) and tied Parks and junior forward Quintin Dove for the most steals (2). Bogan also went 6-8 for total field goals and 2-2 on free throws.
For SEMO, freshman forward Gabe McGlothan had a strong showing, scoring 21 points and going 9-13 on total free throws. The closest Redhawk to McGlothan in points was sophomore guard Ledarrius Brewer, who scored 10 points.
Compared to UTM, SEMO’s scoring was more evenly dispersed among their whole team. Out of the 11 SEMO players, 40 points came from the team’s top-three scorers. Out of the seven who played for UTM, the top three-scorers accounted for 59 points.
The Skyhawks came out swinging for this game, as UTM never trailed and held a 25-point advantage in the first nine minutes of play, according to Sports Information. The Redhawks were held to a 29.2 shooting percentage in the first 20 minutes.
This game was played with heavy hearts as tonight’s showing was dedicated to Wyatt Cole, a former rodeo student-athlete who passed away in an automobile accident on Sunday, Feb. 10.
Head coach Anthony Stewart spoke with Sports Information about the game dedicated for Cole.
“We wanted to dedicate this win tonight in the memory of Wyatt Cole and his family, friends and teammates,” Stewart said. “That’s the least we thought we could do. He was on our minds this week and he was on our minds this game. We wanted to do this as a team – we talked about it at shoot-around today. We are all a part of the same team here at UT Martin.”
The Skyhawks have five games left in the regular season and will embark on a three-game road trip against SIUE (4-9) on Feb. 16, Murray State (11-2) on Feb. 21 and Austin Peay (10-3) on Feb. 23.
UTM’s final two home games will be against Belmont (11-2) on Feb. 28 and Tennessee State (5-8) on March 2.
