MARTIN, Tenn. – Sophomore Mike Rose equaled a program single-game record by netting seven three-pointers and finished with 26 points as the Eastern Kentucky University men's basketball team defeated UT Martin Wednesday night in Skyhawk Arena, 82-69. This is the first time since the 1980-81 season that the Colonels (8-3, 3-1 OVC) have won their first two conference road games.

Rose went 7-for-9 (77.8 percent) from behind the arc to tally his fourth 20-point performance of the season. Three other EKU players finished in double figures – junior Darnell Dialls (15 points), senior Julian Mascoll (13) and freshman Adam Leonard (11). The Colonels shot a season-best 58.2 percent (32-of-55) from the field and equaled a season high with 13 three-pointers.

Gerald Robinson kept UT Martin in the game by netting six three-pointers of his own on his way to notching 24 points. McClenon Tolliver added 12 points while Will Lewis came off the bench and hauled in a game-high nine rebounds.

Eastern jumped on top early, 10-2, behind a couple of Rose three-pointers and never trailed on the evening. The host Skyhawks managed to cut the deficit to three points a few minutes later, but three-pointers by Leonard and Rose helped stretch the advantage back to nine, 21-12. EKU extended its lead to 13 points, 42-29, late in the first half only to see UT Martin rattle off the final eight points of the stanza to make the score, 42-37, at the break.

A Robinson trifecta two minutes into the second half allowed the Skyhawks to once again close the deficit to three, 43-40. However, the Colonels responded with nine straight points to build another double-digit lead. UT Martin immediately fought back with a run of its own behind two Robinson three-pointers to make the score, 52-48.

The Colonel lead hovered between six and eight points for the next five minutes until Leonard and Rose netted back-to-back three-pointers to give Eastern a 12-point cushion with 5:12 remaining. The Skyhawks never seriously challenged the rest of the way as EKU recorded just its second win at UT Martin in the last eight years.

Eastern Kentucky will take a week off to celebrate the holidays before playing at Kentucky on Dec. 30. The two teams last met in the 2005 NCAA Tournament first round with the Wildcats holding on for a 72-64 win.