It was a tale of two halves for the UTM men’s basketball team tonight as a strong opening 20 minutes was hampered by second-half turnovers in an 89-72 setback to Eastern Kentucky.
The Skyhawks raced out to a seven-point lead in the first half and took a 40-37 advantage into the locker room at the break. However, UTM committed 12 turnovers while the Colonels shot 62.1 percent (18-of-29) in the second half.
Reigning Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) Newcomer of the Week Cameron Holden generated 13 points, a career-best 18 rebounds, six assists and four steals for the Skyhawks, who saw seven players score at least seven points this evening. Anthony Thomas scored a team-high 16 points while Ajani Kennedy’s 11 points rounded out UTM’s double-digit scorers. Eman Sertovic (nine points), Vinnie Viana (eight), Jaron Williams (seven) and Kenton Eskridge (seven) also provided scoring punch for UTM, who falls to 7-14 overall (5-12 OVC).
Eastern Kentucky placed four scorers in double digits in the scoring column, topped by Tre King’s 24 points. Wendell Green, Jr. tossed in 17 points while Curt Lewis (13) and Cooper Robb (10) additionally chipped in significant scoring performances for a Colonel squad that improved to 18-5 overall with a 12-4 mark in OVC play.
“I thought only having five turnovers against a team that presses you for the whole game was good for the first half,” Skyhawk interim head coach Montez Robinson said. “Then to come out in the second half the way we started off was really disappointing. We fought back and gave ourselves a chance but we got away from doing the things that were working and we had a couple of costly mistakes here and there.”
Sertovic had the hot hand early, as he drained a pair of trifectas in the opening 3:46. After a Kennedy three-pointer at the 12:45 mark tilted the score in favor of UTM, the Skyhawks eventually stretched their advantage out to 27-20 once Eskridge converted a layup with 9:33 to go before the intermission.
Eastern Kentucky used a 7-0 run to soon even the score but a Viana trey gave UTM a seven-point cushion (38-31) at the 2:43 mark of the first half. A pair of Holden free throws less than 20 seconds later kept the Skyhawk lead at seven before UTM settled for a 40-37 advantage at halftime.
Holden had already earned a double-double in the first half as he was responsible for game-highs of 11 points and 13 rebounds. The Colonels were led by Green’s nine points.
Coming out of the break, the Skyhawks were forced into five turnovers in the first two minutes. That allowed Eastern Kentucky to claim a 46-40 advantage behind nine unanswered points.
Thomas drilled a three-pointer at the 16:07 mark and Viana added a driving layup less than a minute later to nudge UTM back on top, 49-47. However, that would be the final time that the Skyhawks would lead for the remainder of the contest as the Colonels responded with a 7-0 run.
Thomas poured in seven consecutive UTM points during one stretch, helping the Skyhawks shave their deficit to one point (55-54) with 12:26 remaining. UTM continued battling – pulling within four points with just under nine minutes to go after an old-fashioned three-point play by Williams.
Unfortunately, Eastern Kentucky was too hard to handle down the stretch as the Colonels outscored the Skyhawks by a 26-13 margin to conclude the game.
UTM will hold its home finale on Saturday, Feb. 20 when it takes on Morehead State at 4 p.m. (following the women’s basketball contest). The game will serve as Senior Day as the Skyhawks will honor Hannes Polla for his career contributions.
