The Skyhawks lost a tough game to Murray State Tuesday night in the first round of the OVC Men’s Basketball Tournament, 65–52. Skyhawk senior Jared Newson struggled from the field, but led the team with 16 points on 6–19 (31.6%) shooting.

The game started out at a very intense pace, as Murray State connected on four quick three-pointers to take an early 12–6 lead in the first three minutes.

UTM struggled with its offense and Murray State pushed the lead up to 20–9 at the midway point of the first half. However, back-to-back lay-ups by Will Lewis and Zerek Knight cut the lead to 20–13, but the Racers wouldn’t stop attacking.

Murray State responded with a 19–5 run to close out the half, 39–18. The Racers shot 11–26 (42.3%) from the field, including 9–17 (52.9%) from three. Tennessee-Martin shot 7–31(22.6%) from the field, and they were 1–9 (11.1%) from the three-point line.

Knight led UTM with seven first half points, and Will Lewis and Jared Newson added four points each. The Skyhawks big men, Lewis and Cleve Woodfork grabbed five first half rebounds each to help UTM out rebound Murray State 24–16.

Murray State guard Darnell Hopkins led all scorers with 12 first half points on 4–6 (66.7%) shooting from the three-point line.

The second half opened with the Skyhawks going on a 7–0 run, cutting the lead to 39–25. The Racers struggled with their offense as the Skyhawks increased its defensive pressure and intensity.

Jared Newson and Jeremy Kelly combined for 13 straight points as the Skyhawks continued to chip away at Murray State’s lead, cutting it to 48–38 at the 9:17 mark in the second half.

Murray State pushed the lead back up to 14 at the 1:15 mark, making the score 58–44. UTM tried to play the free throw game to cut into lead. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to get the lead any smaller than nine points either 37 seconds left to play.

Good free throw shooting down the stretch gave Murray State the 65– 52 victory over the Skyhawks.

Seniors Newson and Kelly led all Skyhawks in scoring with 16 and 13 points, respectively. Kelly also managed a game high five steals, while Newson pulled down 12 rebounds, including five offensive boards.

As a team, UTM’s hot 18–63 (28.6%) from the field, including 4–21 (19.0%) from three-point range. The Skyhawks out rebounded the Racers 47–36, but they only managed to dish out five assists as a team.

The Skyhawks finished the season with a 13–15 overall record, and Murray State improved to 22–6 with the win. The Racers went on to win the OVC tournament and received an automatic bid into the NCAA Men’s Tournament.

The Skyhawks are losing six seniors this season, including their top two scorers Kelly and Newson. Also graduating are Courtney Smith, Woodfork, Aaron Ferrell, and Jason Thompson.

Newson and Kelly both finished their careers at UTM in the top five on the all time scorers list in school history. Newson finished with 1,347 career points, and Kelly finished with 1, 213.