In a home conference matchup against the 3-13 (0-6) Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Cougars, the Skyhawks—led by a Serbian tandem of Filip Radaković and Andrija Bukumirović, who scored 16 and 14 points, respectively—were able to fend off a strong effort from the Cougars to win their sixth game in a row.

The Skyhawks started off slow against the Cougars and shot just 30% from the field and 15% from three in the first half. However, they were able to weather the storm and headed into halftime with a three-point lead after out-rebounding the Cougars 28-19 and outscoring them 12-4 on second-chance points.

For the Cougars, they struggled to generate any offense of their own. The Cougars shot just 5% better than the Skyhawks from the field but made up for it from behind the arc with a mere 7% three-point percentage.

The Cougars were led by sophomore forward Darrion Baker with 15 points and senior center Arnas Sakenis with a near double-double of 12 points and eight rebounds.

Neither team was able to gain traction in the first half. The largest lead of the half was an eight-point lead midway through the half after the Skyhawks rattled off seven points in a row to go up 22-16.

At halftime, UT Martin was led by sophomore guard Filip Radaković, who went 3-for-4 from the field and 1-for-1 from three on his way to a nine-point half.

The Skyhawks came out strong in the second half and outscored the Cougars 17-9 to go up 45-36 midway through the half, a product of returning to their roots, according to general manager/assistant coach Jawaan Holmes.

“We just tried to get back to what we do, and that’s utilizing our big guards in the post,” Holmes said. “We’ve been wearing teams down all year long, and we’ve been a second-half team.”

After a strong start to the second half from the Skyhawks, the Cougars were able to battle their way back within four with just 43 seconds remaining.

The Cougars tried to continue that momentum through to the end, but the Skyhawks were able to hit their free throws and secure their sixth win in a row.

Despite their places on opposite ends of the conference standings, the Skyhawks say they never took SIUE lightly when preparing for Thursday’s matchup.

“That team went to the NCAA tournament last year. That’s a really, really good team, and that’s a very, very well-coached team. (Brian) Baroni is just an unbelievable coach,” Holmes said. “We just knew coming in that they were going to be well coached, and we don’t take anybody lightly, no matter what their record is in the OVC.”

The Skyhawks’ next match will be at home against the 10-7 Lindenwood Lions in the Elam Center on Jan. 17 at 3:30 p.m.