MARTIN, Tenn. – Lester Hudson lifted the UT Martin
Skyhawks to the semifinals of the Ohio Valley Conference
Men’s Basketball Tournament with a 93-75 victory over
Tennessee Tech Tuesday night in the Elam Center.
Hudson, a likely winner of the OVC Player of the Year award later
this week, led the Skyhawks with 42 points, nine rebounds and six
assists in the first-round tournament victory.
Tech wrapped up the 2008-09 season with a 12-19 overall record,
while UT Martin improved to 22-8.
Daniel Northern closed his Golden Eagle career with another
double-double, scoring 18 points and snapping down 12 rebounds. He
also added two more blocked shots to his league-leading total.
Freshman Kevin Murphy finished with 14 points and five rebounds and
Alfred Jones came off the bench to contribute 13 points and five
rebounds. DJ Lindsay added eight points and four boards.
Hudson was 15-for-24 from the field, including 8-of-13 from long
range, on the way to his 42 points. He also had two steals and two
blocked shots.
Olajide Hay added 17 points, hitting 8-for-8 from the floor, and
Marquis Weddle had 11 points. Point guard Delrico Lane had nine
assists for UTM.
Tech shot 41.4 percent from the field, going 29-for-70, including
5-for-23 from long range for 21.7 percent. The Golden Eagles were
12-for-14 at the free throw line for 85.7 percent, and held a 39-36
advantage in rebounds.
UT Martin shot 55.4 percent from the floor, including 63.3 percent
in the second half. The Skyhawks were 10-for-26 from 3-point
range.
The only lead of the game for the No. 8 seeded Golden Eagles came
in the opening minute on a basket by Northern. Djero
Riedewalk’s layup tied the score and Hay followed with a
layup at the 17:46 mark and the Skyhawks never relinquished the
lead.
Tech pulled to within four on a layup by Jones with 10:47 to play
in the first half to make it 18-14, but the Skyhawks got
back-to-back 3-pointers by Hudson and Weddle to start an 8-0 run
and take the margin to double digits.
UT Martin held a 43-33 lead at halftime, and Tech trimmed the
difference to seven points four times early in the second half, the
final time coming with 16:19 remaining on two free throws by
Northern to make it 51-44.
A 9-0 run by the Skyhawks built their lead to 18 points, and they
maintained close to that margin over the final 14 minutes. The
closest Tech got after that was 15 points on a 3-pointer by Jones
with 11:16 to play.
The largest margin of the night was 24 points when UTM went up
85-61 with 6:52 to play.