The UTM Skyhawks picked up another big Ohio Valley Conference win over the Southeast Missouri Redhawks to improve to 4-2 in conference play.
The 70-53 win was the first win over SEMO in the Elam Center since 2011.
“I thought it was a huge win for us against a good SEMO team,” said UTM head coach Heath Schroyer. “I thought our defense in the second half was as good of a defensive half that we had all year.”
SEMO, playing without their leading scorer Jarekious Bradley, fought with UTM, swapping the lead several times. It wasn’t until late in the first half when the Skyhawks went on a few short runs to give them a 40-32 lead at halftime.
UTM extended their lead to 10 in the second half before a 9-0 run trimmed the lead to one midway through the half. From there, the Skyhawks went on a 23-7 run and cruised to an easy win, 70-53 over the Redhawks.
The Skyhawks had four players finish with double-digit points: Alex Anderson (13), Marshun Newell (12), Javier Martinez (17) and Deville Smith who led the Skyhawks with 18 points.
“We’re not a one trick pony, we don’t have one good player, we have a basketball team,” said Schroyer. “It’s like I told our guys before the game and leading up to this game for the last two days, we’re not going to beat SEMO playing hero basketball, we’re going to do it as a team.”
Southeast Missouri was led by Isiah Jones, who had 21 points, and Antonius Cleveland, who had 11.
UTM shot 49 percent from the field and 54 percent from three point range while SEMO shot 43 percent from the field, 36 percent from three and only 2-9 from the free-throw line.
The Skyhawks’ next game is Thursday, Jan. 29, when they host Eastern Illinois. Tipoff between the Panthers and the Skyhawks is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
