Featured Photo: UT Martin Basketball head coach Jeremy Shulman and general manager Jawann Holmes strategize plays at the 2026 OVC Basketball Championship tournament at Ford Center in Evansville, Ind. on March 5, 2026. (Pacer Photo / Chloe Kent)

The UT Martin Skyhawks defeated the Eastern Illinois Panthers 66-63 in the second round of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament after receiving a first round bye.

The first half opened with runs from both teams. UT Martin jumped ahead to open the game strong, but EIU scored 11 points unanswered to gain the lead.

Even after struggling throughout the first half offensively, UT Martin defensive effort created difficult offensive possessions for EIU. UT Martin’s mediocre 35% (10/28) from the field narrowly beat EIU’s offensive struggles, as the Panther shot 32% (9/29) from the field in the first half.

The Skyhawks were able to hang on to their small lead of five points and entered halftime ahead 27-22.

UT Martin opened the second half with one goal; get to the free throw line. The Skyhawks doubled their free throw attempts in the second half, with 11 makes on 13 attempts from the stripe. UT Martin’s willingness to attack the basket opened up shooting lanes for the Skyhawks shooters in the second half. UT Martin shot 33% (4/12) from beyond the arc.

UT Martin extended their lead to eight points late in the second half, which was their largest lead of the game. However, the persistent Panthers did not give up. EIU battled back with less that one minute remaining, hitting a late three pointer to make it a one possession game.

UT Martin was able to hang on and run the remaining time out to win the game and move on to the semifinals of the OVC tournament. UT Martin Head Coach Jeremy Shulman said his team knew a win against EIU was not going to be easy.

“We knew it was going to be a battle tonight,” said Shulman. “Our guys were ready for the battle, and it was next man up.”

Shulman made sure to give the players all the credit for the postseason win.

“This group of guys that we have, I’m just so proud of them,” said Shulman. “The games where you make just a ton of three, and every shot, those are the easy games, right. For our guys to find a way, do the defense, do all the rebounding—executing down the stretch. I’m just really proud of these guys.”

Leading scorers for UT Martin were sophomore guard Filip Radakovic and freshman forward Matas Deniusas with 17 points a piece. Radakovic went a perfect 11/11 from the free throw line and added four assists and one rebound to his stat line. As for Deniusas, who leads the university in all-time OVC Freshman of the Week honors, he had seven rebounds and two steals on top of the efficient offensive outing.

UT Martin now gets an opportunity for revenge against the OVC regular season champion Tennessee State Tigers. Following two losses to them in the regular season, the most recent defeat taking place in the season finale just six days prior, UT Martin must defeat Tennessee State to move on to the OVC Tournament Championship game. Tip off is set for 7 p.m. in Evansville, Ind.

The winner of this matchup moves on to Championship Saturday to play the winner of the two seed Morehead State Eagles and Southeast Missouri State Redhawks at 9:30 p.m.