Little Rock's first Ohio Valley Conference road game of the season ended in thrilling fashion at the University of Tennessee at Martin Thursday night. The Trojans (8-5, 2-0) hope to sweep the opening league road series at 3:30 p.m. Saturday when they play Tennessee State (4-10, 0-3) at Nashville's Gentry Center.
The pregame show begins at 3:15 p.m., with Trey Schaap on the call on 106.7 Buz2. The game will also air on ESPN+.
LAST TIME OUT
Johnathan Lawson's floater on the right side of the lane with two seconds remaining gave the Trojans a 57-56 win at the University of Tennessee at Martin Thursday night.
Little Rock hadn't held a lead in the game since the 18:12 mark of the first half when they led 2-0 and only led for 12 seconds of the game. The Trojans also trailed by as many as 12 in the second half.
Lawson scored eight of his 14 points in the final 1:37. He also totaled six rebounds.
Tuongthach Gatkek grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds and scored 9 points, dished out 4 assists and nabbed 4 steals.
Travonne Jackson scored 12 points off the bench.
The Skyhawks led 54-47 with 1:50 to play when the Trojans began an improbable comeback. Jackson made two free throws with 1:49 to go to cut the advantage to five, and then Lawson hit a three-pointer to make it a 54-52 game with 1:37 remaining.
UTM's Tarance Guinyard made two free throws to push the lead to 56-52 at the 1:01 mark, but Lawson drilled another triple with 44 seconds left.
UTM drained the clock and Little Rock forced Guinyard to take a tough jumper that he missed with 18 seconds left. Gatkek cleared the rebound, and Little Rock set up a half-court play for Lawson.
He drove the right side of the lane and hit a floater over a Skyhawks defender with time running out.
BETTER LATE THAN NEVER
Several of
Johnathan Lawson's family members made the short drive from Memphis, Tenn., to rural Martin to see him and the Trojans play the Skyhawks Thursday night.
He put on show for them, but he waited till the final act. Lawson, who only scored one point in the first half, hit two crucial three-pointers in the final 1:37 and sank a floater on the right side of the lane with two seconds left to seal the win. He finished with 14 points, 6 rebounds and 2 steals.
DEFENSE TRAVELS
Little Rock showed why it is the top defensive team in the Ohio Valley in the win Thursday night. UT Martin hit a shot at the 13:18 mark of the second half and didn't score from the field again the rest of the game. Little Rock held the Skyhawks to 29% shooting from the field and just 1-of-14 from the three-point line in the second half and 7-for-32 from three for the game.
The Trojans entered the game second in the league in scoring defense (67.7 points per game) and first in defensive field goal percentage with 37%.
STAT STUFFER
Tuongthach Gatkek has been a welcomed addition for Little Rock head coach
Darrell Walker. The Portland, Maine native and Texas State transfer has made his presence felt inside as he has emerged as one of the top shot blockers in the OVC. He came up big in the win Thursday night, as he grabbed a game-high10 rebounds and totaled nine points, 5 assists, 4 steals and 2 blocks.
THE SERIES
Little Rock leads the series 4-3. The teams have split four games since the Trojans entered the Ohio Valley Conference in the 2022-23 season. Little Rock is 1-2 all-time against TSU at Nashville, including a 90-82 road loss last season.
FIRST LOOK: TSU
The Tigers have dropped the first three OVC games but have been competitive in all of them. Before the holiday break, TSU lost 77-75 at Southern Indiana in the league opener and dropped a 74-68 decision to Morehead State two days later.
On Thursday night, Tennessee State took one of the league's top teams, Southeast Missouri State, down to the wire in a 67-65 setback. TSU led SEMO 47-42 with 12:42 to play in the game, but SEMO outscored the Tigers 25-18 for the remainder of the game to seal the win.
The Tigers are led by 6-foot-5 senior guard Brandon Weston who is averaging 17.7 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. The Brooklyn, N.Y., native also played at Seton Hall and Rhode Island. Carlous Williams, a 6-foot-5, 230-pound Tulsa transfer, and 6-6, 175-pound junior guard Aaron Nkruma each average 10.5 ppg. Nkrumah contributes 5.3 rpg. Junior guard Justus Jackson chips in 9 ppg.
Mammoth graduate transfer Josh Ogundele is only averaging just over 5 ppg, but he scored a season-high 17 in the loss to SEMO Thursday. Ogundele is a 7-foot, 275-pounder from London, England, who previously played at Iowa and Middle Tennessee State.
Nashville native Brian "Penny" Collins is in his eighth season as the head coach at TSU. Collins starred at crosstown Belmont for four years and was a captain on the Bruins' first-ever NCAA Tournament team.
Collins entered this season with an 81-102 mark at TSU. Last season was one of his better finishes with an 18-15 record and a fifth-place finish in the OVC.
