After falling behind by as many as 13 points in the first half of their game against Tennessee State on Thursday night, the Skyhawk men rallied with a 45-point performance in the second half to claim a 71-68 win in the Elam Center, their fourth consecutive win.

The win, which was followed by a win over Eastern Illinois on Saturday, allowed the Skyhawks to keep pace in the OVC postseason race. They are now in a three-way tie for sixth place in the conference with Eastern Kentucky and Tennessee State.

The Skyhawks got off to a quick start against TSU, converting on several turnovers to build a 17-9 lead barely eight minutes into the game.

Kareem Grant made three consecutive three-pointers to lead the offensive show. Once they fell behind, the Skyhawks struggled with ball-handling, committing three turnovers in a two-minute span of the first half.

The Tigers made six-of-six free throws and over 40 percent of their three-pointers in the half. They built a 13-point advantage with 1:04 remaining and led, 36-26, at the half. “Bubba” Tolliver made a lay-up as time expired to cut the Skyhawk deficit to ten points.

The Skyhawks did a “180” in the second half similar to their game against Arkansas State earlier in the season.

In that game, they scored 19 first-half points before putting 50 points on the scoreboard in the second half of regulation. Against TSU, the Skyhawks won the second half by a score of 45-32.

Jared Newson opened the half with a three-pointer to bring the Skyhawks to within seven points. Over the next few minutes, the Skyhawks chipped away at the Tiger lead at the free throw line. They made their first nine free throws in the second half to take a 45-44 lead with 11:56 left.

After a brief struggle for the lead, the Skyhawks jumped ahead for good on a pair of Newson free throws. Newson and Cleve Woodfork combined to go for 11 consecutive points to give the Skyhawks a 57-48 lead with less than six minutes left in the game.

Assisting the Skyhawk run was the team’s defensive performance. Half of TSU’s shot attempts in the second half came from three-point range. They made 3 of 16 three-point attempts in the second half, resulting in a 19 percent shooting half overall.

The Skyhawks also held a significant advantage from the free throw line. They went to the line a staggering 50 times in the game, including 42 in the second half, making 34 for the game. The Tigers went 13-for-18 from the line for the game.

“I thought we really stepped up defensively. We did a really good job guarding the perimeter,” said Skyhawk Head Coach Bret Campbell.

The Skyhawks held their largest lead of the game at 65-53 with 2:22 left following a basket by McKale Jones. The game was far from over, though, as the Tigers went on a run in the final minute. Reiley Ervin scored eight points in less than a minute for the Tigers to threaten the Skyhawk lead. His free throws with 16 seconds left cut the Skyhawk lead to 70-65.

Fortunately, the clock was on the side of the Skyhawks and denied the Tigers a chance to shoot for the win. A meaningless buzzer-beating three-pointer by Andrae Belton yielded the final score.

“We gave them a chance by missing 16 free throws, but we did go to the line 50 times. They had us back on our heels in the first half, but we did a better job of penetrating against the zone in the second half,” Campbell said.

The Skyhawks will finish the regular season with a three-game road trip, including the Bracket Buster game at Evansville on Saturday. The trip also includes games against OVC-leading Tennessee Tech and third-place Murray State.