Box Score

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MARTIN, Tenn.  – The Panther men's basketball team dropped an 84-77 contest at UT Martin on Thursday night inside the Elam Center. EIU drops to 6-13 on the year and 3-5 in Ohio Valley Conference action.
 
After Chris Olivier gave EIU a 71-70 advantage with 3:08 left in the game on back-to-back free throws, UT Martin's Myles Taylor hit his only basket of the night on the ensuing possession to regain a Skyhawk lead the would never relinquish. Taylor, who entered the game averaging 15.9 points per game, finished the game with only two points and a team-high seven rebounds. The Skyhawks (7-15, 2-5 OVC) were able to pull away down the stretch as they hit four of their final five shot attempts while going 7-for-8 from the foul line.
 
The Panthers hit their first three shots of the second half and five of their first seven attempts to take their largest lead of the game, 47-36, with 16:01 remaining in regulation. EIU held onto the lead until the 9:18 mark as UT Martin rallied back to take a 55-54 advantage on back-to-back free throws by Tobias Dowdell.  
 
EIU started the contest on a 6-2 run before the Skyhawks scored nine unanswered points to take an 11-6 advantage. UT Martin led by as many as eight, 25-17, with 7:37 left in the half before the Panthers used a 15-6 run to regain the lead, 32-31, at the 2:01 mark. EIU hit six of its final seven shot attempts to end the half and take a 37-34 advantage into intermission.
 
Olivier led the Panthers with a season-high 20 points, going 8-for-14 from the floor and 4-for-4 from the foul line. Sherman Blanford posted his fourth double-double of the year with 15 points and a game-high 13 rebounds while Keenen Anderson rounded out the double figure scorers with 11 points.
 
EIU held a 38-25 advantage on the glass and had 16 more points in the paint (46-30). 
 
Both teams shot over 50 percent from the floor with EIU posting a .525 field-goal percentage and UT Martin recording a .500 field-goal percentage. UT Martin finished the game going 11-for-23 from behind the arc while EIU went 4-for-13. The Panthers went 11-for-16 from the foul line and the Skyhawks went 15-for-22.
 
Mike Liabo paced UT Martin with 20 points while Terence Smith added 19 points. Dee Oldham scored 12 points while Khrisitan Taylor chipped in 11 points.
 
The Panthers return to action at Southeast Missouri on Saturday, Jan. 25 at 5:30 p.m.