MARTIN, Tenn. – All five Golden Eagle starters scored in double figures as the Tennessee Tech men’s basketball team cruised to a 76-63 victory over UT Martin Thursday night in Ohio Valley Conference action in front of a national TV audience on ESPNU.

Kevin Murphy led the all scorers in the game with 18 points and Frank Davis scored 15 for the Golden Eagles. Alfred Jones scored 14, and didn’t miss a shot, going 4-for-4 from the field and 6-for-6 from the free throw line, while adding nine rebounds, two assists, two blocked shots and a steal. Terrell Barnes scored a career-high 11 points and grabbed seven rebounds, and Elijah Muhammad chipped in with 10 points and four assists for Tech.

“I’m proud of our kids, we did some really good things in spots tonight,” Tech head coach Mike Sutton said. “We got a total team effort. I thought our kids played hard and our defensive efforts were good.”

After leading by two possessions for most of the second half, Tech built a 15-point lead with two and a half minutes to play in the game, but UTM wouldn’t quit. The Skyhawks hit 3-pointers on three consecutive possessions, two by Marquis Weddle, to pull within eight only a minute later. But UT Martin wouldn’t get any close than that as Tech converted its free throws down the stretch to seal the 13-point victory.

Tech improves to 8-9 on the season and 2-4 on OVC play with the win, while UT Martin falls to 2-13 and 0-6 in the OVC.

Marquis Weddle led the Skyhawks with 17 points, while Reuben Clayton added 13 for UT Martin. Zach Jones finished the game with 10 points and seven rebounds for the Skyhawks.

Tech shot 48.1 percent (25-of-52) from the field for the game, snapping a streak of six consecutive games shooting 50.0 percent or better. UTM hit just 35.6 percent (21-of-59) of its shots for the game, and went 6-of-21 from 3-point distance. Tech had 15 assists on its 25 made baskets, and held a 40-37 edge on the glass. The Golden Eagles turned the ball over 18 times, while the Skyhawks gave it up 15 times.

The Golden Eagles used a 17-0 run midway through the first half to turn a 9-7 deficit into a 24-9 lead. But the Skyhawks would make a run of their own and close the gap to 28-23 by halftime.

Davis scored nine points in the first half on 3-of-5 shooting from 3-point distance. Barnes had six first half points as he converted two three-point plays. Bassey Inameti nabbed five rebounds in the first half and finished thee game with six.

On the other end of the floor Tech held UT Martin to just 30.0 percent shooting in the first half, as the Skyhawks hit just 9-of-30 shots including 2-of-10 3-pointers.

The Golden Eagles will play the tail end of their two game road swing at Murray State on Jan. 16 before returning to Cookeville for four consecutive home OVC contests. That stint will start on Jan. 21 against Austin Peay, and continue Jan. 23 against Tennessee State, Jan. 28 against Eastern Illinois, and wrap up Jan. 30 against Southeast Missouri.

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