Skyhawks can’t stop late Bradley run

Posted: Friday, November 30, 2012 12:00 pm

PEORIA, Ill. — UT Martin trailed by only three points with 14 minutes left to play at Bradley, but the Braves answered with a 20-4 run that led them to an 80-57 win in men’s basketball play Saturday at Carver Arena.
Sophomore Myles Taylor amassed game-highs of 17 points and nine rebounds today for UT Martin (2-4), which also received 15 points from Mike Liabo and 12 from Justin Childs. Making his first career start, BJ McLaughlin also had a solid all-around game (nine points, seven rebounds, three assists, two steals) for the Skyhawks, who forced Bradley into 15 turnovers.
Walt Lemon, Jr. paced Bradley (4-1) with 15 points, while Jake Eastman compiled 14 points. Will Egolf (13 points), Jalen Crawford (12) and Dyricus Simms-Edwards (11) also reached double-figures for the Braves, who hit 90.9 percent of their free throw attempts (20-of-22) in the second half.
“We didn’t shoot very well from the arc and we missed a couple easy ones,” UT Martin head coach Jason James said. “I thought Myles played well in the second half and I was happy with BJ’s effort. He mostly guarded Bradley’s top scorer and he held him without a field goal for the entire game.”
Childs had four early points and his three-pointer six minutes into the game gave the Skyhawks their first lead of the contest at 7-5. However, Bradley came back with a 13-0 run over the next 6:13 to lead by an 18-7 margin.
A pair of free throws by Taylor and a McLaughlin trifecta brought UT Martin back within six (18-12) but the Braves once again went on a run — this time scoring seven of nine points over a stretch of 1:09 to go on top by 11 points.
UT Martin then reeled off seven unanswered points to get within four before a last second jumper by Lemon made the score 27-21 in Bradey’s favor at the break.
Childs’ nine points led all scorers at the break, while Egolf had seven points in the first 20 minutes to lead Bradley.
Taylor began the second half on a scoring tear, accounting for a dozen of the Skyhawks’ first 20 points. A three-pointer on the left side by Bobby Jones with 17:50 left on the clock sliced UT Martin’s deficit to 31-28, but the Braves accounted for five consecutive points to lead by eight following the first media timeout.
The Skyhawks kept fighting, as a pair of Liabo free throws at the 14:13 mark made the score 36-33. Bradley’s lengthy run began on its next possession and did not end until McLaughlin scooped up an offensive rebound for a putback with under nine minutes to play. Taylor followed with a jumper in the lane 21 seconds later to pull UT Martin within 15 at 56-41.
However, that would be as close as the Skyhawks would get the rest of the way, despite Liabo going off for eight straight points.
 including a pair of three-pointers, in a span of 2:05.
UT Martin returns to action tonight when it travels to FedEx Forum to take on No. 17 Memphis. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. Published in The WCP 11.29.12