The UTM men’s basketball team fell short of victory on Saturday, as they were defeated by the SIU Edwardsville Cougars, 87-82.
The Skyhawks, who went into the contest winners of two of their last three games, dropped their first game to SIUE in the last three meetings between the two teams. With the win, the Cougars evened the all-time series at 5-5.
Junior guard Terence Smith once again led the way for the Skyhawks, scoring 22 points for UTM in the loss. Smith was consistently able to find his mark from the floor, scoring on eight of his 10 field goal attempts. Sophomore guard Dee Oldham and junior forward Myles Taylor pulled their weight as well, tallying 16 and 15 points on the afternoon, respectively. Taylor also led the Skyhawks in rebounding with six boards.
For the Cougars, junior guard Kris Davis led with 20 points; however, he was taken out of the game late with a lower body injury and did not return. Junior forward Keaton Jackson also scored 17 points and senior forward Ray Lester led with six rebounds.
The Skyhawks’ biggest difficulty, especially early in the game, came in the rebound column. SIUE dominated the boards in the early goings, out-rebounding UTM 19-6 in the first half. Nevertheless, the Skyhawks were able to outscore the Cougars for most of the early going, holding a lead as large as eleven points. However, the Cougars were able to close the gap and at halftime the Cougars led 34-33.
After the break, SIUE opened up the offense, extending their lead to 13 and maintaining a healthy margin throughout.
Starting from 19:17 remaining in the game, the Skyhawks would not lead again. The Cougars made 68% of their field goals in the second half, compared to UTM’s mark of 56.3%.
In the game, UTM outscored SIUE in the paint 44-36. Smith and Oldham were on point from beyond the arch as well, as both shot four for six from three range.However, senior guard Mike Liabo came up empty on his five trey attempts. This ended Liabo’s streak of eight consecutive games with a three-pointer; he had landed at least one three in each game following the Skyhawks’ December 19 battle with Arkansas.
UTM now falls to 2-14 in games where they have trailed at halftime this season; their record now sits at 7-16 overall (2-6 OVC). They now embark on a four-game road trip, starting with a visit to Eastern Kentucky on January 30. Their next home game will be on February 20, when they host the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles.
SIUE improves to 7-14 on the year with the win and are now 4-4 in OVC play. They will return home on January 29 to play the visiting Crowley’s Ridge Pioneers.
Go here to view the photos from the game: http://www.thepacer.net/utm-mens-basketball-vs-siue/
