CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – In a contest that featured 19 lead changes and eight tie scores, the University of Tennessee at Martin men’s basketball team came up just short in an 81-77 decision at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
The Skyhawks held a two-point halftime advantage and opened up an eight-point lead just under five minutes into the second half. However, the host Islanders immediately responded with a 17-4 run. UT Martin then trimmed a double-digit advantage down to a single possession late in the game before Texas A&M-Corpus Christi held on for the win.
Tarence Guinyard produced a game-high 19 points for the Skyhawks (2-3), doing most of his damage from the free throw line with eight makes in 11 attempts. Josué Grullon followed right behind with 18 points and a game-high two steals in 27 minutes off the bench while Afan Trnka added 11 points for UT Martin. Vladimer Salaridze (nine points, career-best 14 rebounds, four assists) and Lamine Niang (eight rebounds) helped the Skyhawks outrebound the hosts by a 39-35 margin.
The Islanders (2-3) placed five scorers in double figures, headed by Jordan Roberts’ 16 points. Garry Clark added 15 points while Owen Dease (13 points), Sheldon Williams (13) and Aaron Potter (11) also helped Texas A&M-Corpus Christi complete the comeback win.
UT Martin’s balance was on full display early as seven different Skyhawks accounted for the squad’s first 16 points. After an early 7-2 Islander run, UT Martin reclaimed a lead at 16-15 following an AJ Hopkins three-pointer at the 12:08 mark.
Following a Filip Radaković layup, Trnka and Guinyard each knocked down three-pointers in the span of 28 seconds to extend the Skyhawk advantage out to 24-18.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi followed with a 14-4 run but UT Martin took a 41-39 lead into the locker room after Grullon beat the halftime buzzer by swishing a right-wing triple on a perfectly executed play out of a Skyhawk timeout.
Grullon was responsible for a team-best 11 points in the opening half while Roberts accounted for a game-high 15 points to pace the Islanders.
Guinyard tossed in nine of UT Martin’s first 16 points to begin the second half as his free throw with 15:10 remaining gave the Skyhawks their biggest lead of the evening at 55-47. However, the Islanders answered right back with their aforementioned run to go on top 64-59.
A second-chance bucket by Lamine Niang and a driving leaner from Grullon whittled UT Martin’s deficit down to one point with 6:25 to go but Texas A&M-Corpus Christi unreeled the next 10 points of the contest for its biggest lead of the night (74-63 with 3:33 remaining).
The Skyhawks kept battling. Facing a 10-point deficit with 1:36 to go, UT Martin produced eight of the next nine points to pull within three points after a Grullon trifecta with two ticks left. The Islanders were able to successfully inbound the ball and make a free throw to seal the win.
The Skyhawks conclude their participation in the Island U Invitational today (11/22) when they tip off against Le Moyne at 5 p.m.
