UTM saved the run for the second half this time out, but it wasn't enough as visiting Jacksonville State knocked off the Skyhawks, 96-85, in an Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball game Thursday night in Skyhawk Arena.

UTM falls to 0-3 in the OVC standings and 5-10 overall, while Jacksonville State picks up its first-ever OVC win to move to 1-3 in the league race. Overall, Jax State is 7-7.

JSU forged ahead 50-40 at the intermission and used an 11-0 run to open the second half.

Trailing 61-40 with 17:04 to play, the Skyhawks rallied, unlike their past two games where they led at the break and let up in the second half.

The Skyhawks used a 15-5 run to cut the Jax State lead to one, 72-71, with 7:03 remaining to play.

That was it though. Jacksonville State tossed in 12 unanswered points and never looked back.

JSU's Scott Watson led all scorers with 30 points. He canned six of his 10 attempted treys and was perfect on eight tosses from the charity stripe.

The Skyhawks relied on 29 points and nine rebounds from junior college transfer Jared Newson. He shot 50 percent from the field and was 11-for-14 at the free throw line.

Sophomore Cleve Woodfork added a dozen points to the Skyhawks' tally and recorded his second double-double of the year. Woodfork had 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Tyler George and Justin Smith rounded out the double-digit scoring for Tennessee-Martin with 11 and 10 points, respectively.

The Skyhawks won the battle of the boards, 42-40, but shot just 26.7 percent (4-for-15) from the three-point arch.

JSU shot 54.5 percent from the curve and hit 12-of-22 three balls.

The Skyhawks hope to put an end to the three-game slide Saturday, Jan. 17 when they host the OVC's other new team, Samford. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. in Skyhawk Arena.