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EVANSVILLE, Ind. –  UT Martin took a two possession lead with just over seven minutes remaining on Wednesday night as the Skyhawks beat Eastern Illinois, 78-71, in the opening round of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament at the Ford Center.

EIU ends its season at 14-18.  UTM improved to 12-18 and will play No. 3 seed Jacksonville State on Thursday night.

Jalen Gill had a put-back dunk with 7:11 remaining that gave UTM a two possession lead at 60-56. 

EIU was able to close to within one point with 2:44 remaining as Ben Harvey had two free throws and a jumper in the lane to make it 65-64. 

Preston Parks followed with a jumper to push the lead back to three points.  Another dunk by Gill at 1:48 made it a five point game that UTM was able to hold on to for the win.

EIU opened the game with an early lead as the Panthers were hot from 3-point range.  The Panthers led 38-36 at the half after shooting 50 percent from the floor.

In the second half EIU opened hitting its first five shots but cooled off late in the contest.  Josiah Wallace led EIU with 26 points.  Ben Harvey and Rade Kukobat both added 11 with Kukobat pulling down nine rebounds.  Mack Smith had ten points with a pair of 3-pointers as he ends the season as the NCAA active leader in consecutive games with a made 3-pointer at 49.

Five UTM players finished in double figures with Gill and Derek Hawthorne each scoring 17.