The UTM men’s basketball squad canned 13 three-pointers on a 50 percent shooting night from beyond the three-point arc but the visiting Jacksonville State Gamecocks came away with an 82-70 win at the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center.
The Skyhawks’ 13 trifectas were the most since Feb. 15, 2020 against Eastern Illinois as Jaron Williams (five) and Kenton Eskridge (four) each set new career-highs in that category this evening. Eman Sertovic (season-best three) and Ajani Kennedy (one) also contributed to UTM’s final tally.
Williams scored a career-high 21 points while Eskridge (career-best 16 points, career-high six rebounds, game-best six assists) and Sertovic (season-high 13 points) also pitched in big scoring efforts. Returning from injury and playing in his first game since Jan. 9, Hannes Polla corralled a team-high seven rebounds and swatted away a career-best four blocks for the Skyhawks (5-11, 3-9 Ohio Valley Conference).
The duo of Brandon Huffman and Darian Adams each scored 16 points apiece to lift Jacksonville State (11-7, 7-5 OVC). Jalen Finch and Demaree King additionally generated 11 points apiece for the Gamecocks, who made 11 three-pointers themselves.
“I thought the game came down to our 11 turnovers in the first half leading to 12 points for Jacksonville State,” UTM interim head coach Montez Robinson said. “That’s where the game was decided – we lost by 12 points. Everything else in the first half was even across the board. We had too many unforced turnovers – we have to continue to do a better job of taking care of the ball and not getting rattled.”
The left corner was friendly to the Skyhawks early, as Eskridge, Sertovic and Kennedy each drained a trey from nearly the same exact spot to give UTM a 9-5 advantage just 135 seconds into the contest.
After another Eskridge triple at the 16:15 mark, both sides went cold – combining only two points in four-plus minutes. Jacksonville State then used a 10-0 surge to take a short-lived lead as Williams pumped in eight consecutive points to knot the score at 22-all.
The Gamecocks ended the first half on a 19-8 run over the final 5:55 to take a 46-34 lead into the halftime break. Williams accounted for 11 first-half points for the Skyhawks while Huffman registered a dozen points to lead Jacksonville State.
Eskridge connected for yet another three-pointer to open the scoring in the second half but the Gamecocks quickly struck for six unanswered points. A Sertovic fast break floater just outside the paint at the 10:11 mark trimmed UTM’s deficit to 60-54.
Jacksonville State later responded with eight consecutive points to go on top by a 73-59 margin with 6:27 left to play. Back-to-back three-pointers by Eskridge and Williams closed the Skyhawk gap to eight points (78-70) with under a minute remaining but that was as close as UTM would get the rest of the way.
The Skyhawks resume their lengthy homestand on Saturday, Feb. 6 when they take on in-state OVC foe Tennessee Tech. Tipoff from the Elam Center will take place at 4 p.m., following the conclusion of the women’s basketball game.
Photo Credit / Sports Information
