Senior forward
Tuongthach Gatkek had one of the better shooting nights in Little Rock basketball history in a 75-57 win over the University of Tennessee at Martin Saturday evening at the Jack Stephens Center.
Gatkek, a 6-foot-9, 187-pounder, was 9-of-10 (90%) from the field and hit both of his free throws to record a 20-point night. The 90% shooting clip is among the tops in the school history. Derrick Owens owns the highest field-goal shooting mark hitting 14-of-15 (93%) shots against Centenary on March 8, 1990.
The 20 points was a career high for the Florida/Texas State transfer, who also snagged 12 rebounds and totaled 5 assists, 2 blocks and 2 steals.
"He is not a guy that is going to score 20 points a night, but he will score 10 points and get some rebounds and assists and block some shots," Trojans head coach
Darrell Walker said. "He is a jack of all trades, and he had a great night tonight. He was feeling it."
The entire team was on in the second half, as they outscored UT Martin (9-14, 5-7) 39 to 21.
Mwani Wilkinson added 16 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocks and 3 steals.
Johnathan Lawson chipped in 14 points and 5 rebounds and
Jordan Jefferson added 11 points and 4 steals in just 24 minutes of action.
After a tight first half that saw Little Rock trailing by one at halftime, the Trojans took control of the second half.
A three-pointer by Afan Trnka gave the Skyhawks a 41-37 lead with 18:24 to go in the half, but it was short-lived.
Wilkinson hit a three-pointer on the Trojans' next possession, and then a Gatkek dunk gave the Trojans (14-9, 8-4) their first lead of the half. The game was tied at 44 with 15:30 to play in the game when Lawson hit one of two free throws to put Little Rock in front by one. They never relinquished the lead the final 12:25 as they went on a 9-0 run to expand the lead to 54-44 with just over 11 minutes left.
Little Rock kept the lead at double figures for the rest of the game and led by as many as 23 late in the contest. The Trojans shot nearly 50% from the field and scored 20 points off 19 UTM turnovers. They also scored 28 points in the paint and 12 off of second chances.
"We shot 49 percent, and out-rebounded them 34 to 33," Walker said. "When we shoot the basketball and rebound, we win."
The Skyhawks shot 33.9 percent from the field. Josue Grullon led UT Martin with 14 points.
Little Rock begins a two-game road trip next week at Southern Indiana on Thursday.
