Redhawks soar to .500 level

Southeast picked up its first OVC road win with a 75-68 triumph against UTM.

MARTIN, Tenn. -- Southeast Missouri State had not won at Tennessee-Martin since the 2000-01 season, losing all three games by at least 16 points.

But the Redhawks looked plenty comfortable at Skyhawk Arena on Thursday night, as they held off UTM 75-68 for their first Ohio Valley Conference road victory of the season.

The Redhawks' fourth consecutive triumph continued their longest winning streak since 2000-01 as they evened their overall record at 10-10 and pushed their OVC mark to 5-4, surpassing their league victory total from all of last season.

"It's a road win, and I don't care who you're playing, you have to be satisfied," Southeast coach Gary Garner said. "And to finally win here ... it's almost been embarrassing here the last few years."

Senior forward Dainmon Gonner, the OVC's leading scorer at more than 20 points per game, poured in 27 points, 17 in the first half. He, like his teammates, was not around the last time Southeast won at UTM (4-16, 1-8).

"I don't know anything about that," said Gonner, who hit 11 of 18 shots and added to his league-leading steals total with five. "But this is just a nice win, to get one on the road."

Sophomore guard Terrick Willoughby, who continued his recent offensive surge with 17 points by hitting three of six 3-pointers and adding four assists, knew all about Southeast's recent troubles at UTM.

"Coach told us about it and said we needed to finally beat them here," Willoughby said. "But just to win on the road, it's so big and gives us confidence that we can win more on the road."

Senior forward Reggie Golson, the OVC's leading rebounder and shot blocker, added 15 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks.

Senior guard Derek Winans also came up with several big plays on his way to 11 points, four assists and two blocks.

"Everybody stepped up," Gonner said. "We're really getting our chemistry going."

In two previous OVC road games, Southeast had seen big second-half leads slip away.

UTM threatened to pull off the same trick, slicing a 16-point advantage early in the second half to three several times, the last at 63-60 with just over 4 minutes to play.

But Golson answered with two straight baskets, capped by a spinning baseline drive with 2:22 remaining. Winans then came up with a steal and fed Gonner for a layup and a 69-60 lead with 2:01 left.

The Skyhawks got to 69-64, but Southeast closed it out with six consecutive free throws in the final 52 seconds -- four by Willoughby and two by senior guard Mike Nelke.

"We knew they'd make a run. Don't let their record fool you; they've got a nice team," Gonner said of UTM, which suffered its sixth straight loss. "But we closed it out nice."

Southeast, which led 37-28 at halftime, shot 48.1 percent for the game (26 of 54), including 52.2 percent in the second half (12 of 23). The Redhawks also hit 15 of 20 free throws and had just 11 turnovers.

"We're really closing out games well," Garner said. "This is a big win for us."

Junior center Cleve Woodfork paced the Skyhawks with 21 points. UTM shot 41.1 percent (23 of 56) and had 16 turnovers.