Skyhawks take pair from visiting SIUE

UT Martin continued a good streak and ended a bad one Thursday night.

The Skyhawks swept visiting SIU-Edwardsville in Ohio Valley Conference play, winning 64-55 in the women’s opening game and 65-59 in the men’s nightcap.

The Skyhawk men extended their winning streak to six games, while the UTM women halted a modest two-game slide.

On the other side, the SIUE men have now lost their last two games while the Cougar women had their losing streak extended to six games.

UT Martin is back at home on Saturday when it hosts the Lindenwood Lions in an OVC doubleheader.

Tip-off time from the Elam Center is set for 1 p.m. for the women’s game and then 3:30 p.m. for the men’s contest.

MEN

UTM 65, SIUE 59

The staunch UT Martin defense once again showed out as the Skyhawks picked up the victory.

UT Martin (14-4, 6-1 OVC) held the visiting Cougars to 17.4 percent (4-of-23) shooting from 3-point range and out-rebounded SIUE 47-34 and only trailed for 3:22 of clock time, moving to 8-0 on the season at home.

Filip Radakovic led UT Martin in scoring for the third time in the last five outings as the sophomore guard registered a game-high 16 points to go along with eight rebounds.

The Skyhawk tandem of Andrija Bukumirovic (14 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, three blocks) and Matas Deniusas (11 points, game-high 11 rebounds, three assists, two blocks) also provided plenty of muscle as they became the first UT Martin duo to record double-doubles in the same game since Lamine Niang and Pedro Santos against Champion Christian on Dec. 14, 2025.

The Cougars (10-8, 3-4 OVC) featured balanced scoring as Darrion Baker paced the defending OVC Tournament champions with 15 points.

Arnas Sakenis followed with 12 points, while CJ Hall (11) and Tyler King (10) additionally tallied double digits in the points column.

“SIUE is a great defensive team and is hard to score against,” Skyhawk head coach Jeremy Shulman said. “Points were at a premium. I thought we got some real open looks but just tightened up a little bit and didn’t shoot as well as we normally do. We made some adjustments in the second half and were able to execute so I’m really proud of our effort. We were even-keeled throughout.”

Santos scored UT Martin’s first four points of the game as neither side led by more than three points for the first 14-plus minutes.

Radakovic accounted for four points during an 8-0 Skyhawk run that resulted in a 22-16 UT Martin advantage with a little under five minutes remaining in the opening half.

The Cougars tallied the final four points of the first half, but the Skyhawks were able to cling to a 28-27 lead at the break.

Radakovic garnered game-highs of nine points and seven rebounds, while Baker’s eight points paced SIUE in the first 20 minutes.

A mid-range floater from the left baseline on the first possession of the second half gave the Cougars a 29-28 lead, but UT Martin reclaimed the lead for good on a Deniusas jumper in the lane on the next trip down the floor.

Four different Skyhawks — Radakovic driving layup, Deniusas trey, Afan Trnka trifecta and Bukumirovic leaner in the paint — managed points during a 10-2 UT Martin surge that opened up momentum.

SIUE pulled within four points (47-43) with 6:34 left to play, but that was as close as it would get the rest of the way.

The Skyhawks responded with 3-pointers from Bukumirovic, Radakovic and Filip Petkovski in an 84-second span to take their biggest lead of the contest (56-45) with 4:46 to go.

WOMEN

UTM 64, SIUE 55

UT Martin rallied from an 11-point third-quarter deficit for Thursday night’s OVC win at the Kathleen & Tom Elam Center.

UTM (8-8, 4-3 OVC) got off to a shaky start in the first half, giving up 21 second-quarter points to trail SIUE at halftime, 25-21.

The Cougars (8-9, 1-6) pushed their lead out to as much as 11 in the third quarter and outscored the Skyhawks, 18-14, in the frame.

However the fourth quarter was all UT Martin.

The Skyhawks outscored SIUE 29-12 in that final 10-minute span and ended the game on a 14-2 run over the final four minutes and four seconds.

UT Martin shot 42.3 percent from the floor and tied the Cougars in rebounds at 35.

Another key to UTM’s win was its performance at the free throw line where it went nearly perfect, making 17-of-19 shots.

The Skyhawks also committed fewer turnovers than the Cougars on the night, with 14, compared to 18 by SIUE.

Kenley McCarn led the Skyhawks in the game with 15 points to go along with nine rebounds. Zy Thompson notched her fourth double-double of the season on the night, scoring 10 points and pulling down 10 boards.

Sidni Middleton added nine points, three rebounds, three steals and two assists to the cause, while Brittani Wells had nine points and three assists.