U T Martin men’s basketball team was involved in another gut-wrenching decision this evening as the Skyhawks fell by an 81-80 margin in overtime at Tennessee State.
UT Martin is now 9-11 overall and 5-4 in Ohio Valley Conference play with all four league setbacks coming by one point apiece on go-ahead field goals in the final 15 seconds.
The Skyhawks overcame a 10-point first-half deficit to lead by seven points with 3:37 to go in regulation. However, Tennessee State (8-12, 4-5 OVC) went on a 13-6 run to force overtime. UT Martin scored the first four points of the overtime period and did not allow the Tigers to score until 1:23 to go. However, a Tennessee State three-pointer with 15 seconds remaining proved to be the difference.
Vladimer Salaridze earned his seventh double-double of the season with 18 points, 14 rebounds and three steals for the Skyhawks, who placed four scorers in double digits. Afan Trnka delivered 15 points and was followed by Matija Žužić (12 points) and Josué Grullon (11 points, three steals) while Carlos Cortijo divvied out six assists with three steals for UT Martin, who shot 53.1 percent (17-for-32) from the floor in the second half to overcome a seven-point halftime deficit.
The Tigers were led by Brandon Weston’s 20 points while Knute Wood and Ronald Jessamy scored 15 and 11 points, respectively. Wood hit the eventual game-winning three-pointer from the left corner to help Tennessee State overcome 25 turnovers in a contest that featured 14 lead changes and 12 tie scores.
Neither side led by more than one possession until the Tigers went on a 9-2 run to go ahead by a 22-16 margin with six minutes remaining in the opening half. Tennessee State eventually went on to claim a 36-26 advantage at the break following a pair of Wood three-pointers in the final 51 seconds.
The duo of Žužić and Salaridze helped the Skyhawks storm out of the gate in the second half. Žužić canned back-to-back triples in a 45-second span before Salaridze reeled off nine consecutive UT Martin points. Another Žužić trifecta followed and whittled the Skyhawk deficit to 46-44 at the 14:58 mark of the second half.
Moments later, UT Martin used a 10-2 run to take a 56-54 lead after a Trnka fast break layup with 9:15 left in the second half. The Skyhawks nudged their lead out to 69-62 after a pair of Trnka free throws with 3:37 left to play in regulation and after the Tigers briefly reclaimed the lead, Salaridze calmly knocked down two free throws with 28 seconds left in the second half to force overtime. Tennessee State got two contested looks in the final 17 seconds of regulation but the attempts were blocked by Grullon and Andrija Bukumirović.
Cortijo and Salaridze each scored in the paint in the first 36 seconds of overtime but the Tigers eventually held on for the win after three-pointers from Travis Harper II and Wood.
UT Martin comes back home for its next outing, hosting in-state OVC foe Tennessee Tech on Saturday, Jan. 25 at the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center. Tipoff is set for 3:30 p.m., following the women’s basketball game as part of a doubleheader.
