MARTIN, Tenn. – Host Tennessee-Martin used a 18-3 run midway through the second half to pull ahead of the Eastern Kentucky men's basketball team and defeat the Colonels Monday night in Skyhawk Arena, 90-83. The Skyhawks move to 8-12 overall and 5-9 in the OVC while Eastern falls to 10-10 and 7-5.

Four Colonels finished in double figures led by Matt Witt's career-high 28 points. Witt moved up to second on the Eastern Kentucky all-time scoring list, passing John Allen (1990-94) with 1,657 points. Fellow senior Jason McLeish added 21 points while going 12-for-12 at the free throw line.

Jeremy Kelly and Jared Newson combined for 50 UTM points. Kelly netted 10-of-12 field goal attempts to post 29 points while also dishing out nine assists. Newson recorded 21 points on 50 percent shooting.

The first half of action was filled with four ties and six lead changes. Seven straight points by Tennessee-Martin put the Skyhawks ahead early, 11-5. McLeish and Witt then connected on a pair of three-pointers to help Eastern jump ahead of UTM, 26-21, with 8:24 left in the half. Kelly single-handedly gave the Skyhawks the lead again by registering six unanswered points to make the score, 30-28.

Two more three-pointers by McLeish and Witt in the final two minutes of the half pushed the Colonels ahead, 39-35, heading into the intermission. Both teams shot better than 50 percent in the first 20 minutes of play with EKU knocking down eight three-pointers.

Eastern Kentucky continued to hold its slim advantage throughout the first eight minutes of the second half and held a six-point lead, 58-52, with 11:52 left when UT Martin began its pivotal run. Four EKU fouls in less than a minute contributed to seven straight Skyhawk points, culminating with a Kelly three-pointer to put UTM on top, 62-59. Following a lay-up, an Eastern technical foul and another UT Martin three-pointer, the Colonels were suddenly down by nine points, 70-61.

The Skyhawks eventually built a 12-point cushion before the Colonels made one final charge. A Mike Rose trifecta at 3:42 ended a 12-2 spurt for EKU and left the Colonels trailing by only two points, 77-75. However, Tennessee-Martin responded with six straight points and converted nearly all its free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.

UT Martin shot a blistering 69.6 percent (16-of-23) from the floor in the second stanza on its way to tallying 55 points, the most points given up by Eastern in a single half this season.

Eastern Kentucky concludes its three-game road swing on Saturday, Feb. 4, at Tennessee Tech. Game time is slated for 8:30 p.m.