MARTIN, Tenn. – Josh Earley scored 14 points, Rob Martin added 10 and Southeast Missouri (7-13, 2-5) never led in a 84-58 loss to UT Martin (11-9, 4-3) Thursday night at the Elam Center.
 
Earley scored double figures in his sixth-consecutive start, while Martin reached double-digits for the seventh-straight time.
 
Down, 12-11, SEMO fell victim to a 12-0 run when it went nearly five-and-a-half minutes without scoring. The Redhawks missed six-straight field goals, turned the ball over three times and misfired on eight of nine shots over that stretch.
 
Sears scored six points in a row when he converted back-to-back 3-point plays and Issa Muhammad followed that up with a basket to push the Skyhawks lead to 22-11 with 8:45 remaining in the first half.
 
Kobe Jeffries later buried a 3-pointer and added two free throws to extend UTM's lead to 29-12 with just over seven minutes left.
 
Sebastian Mendoza's second-chance layup then capped a 19-1 surge by UTM. Aquan Smart made a jumper right after Mendoza's bucket to end a streak of eight consecutive missed field goals by the Redhawks.
 
There wasn't much that didn't go right for the Skyhawks in the opening stanza. UTM shot 48 percent (16-of-33), made 11-of-13 free throws and outscored SEMO, 26-10, in the paint to get its big 44-22 halftime lead.
 
SEMO narrowed UTM's lead to 18 in the second half, but that was as close as it could get.
 
Earley shot 7-of-14 from the floor and led SEMO with five rebounds. Martin scored four of his points at the free throw line. Smart and Evan Eursher followed with nine and eight points, respectively.
 
The Ohio Valley Conference's top scorer Jordan Sears pitched in a game-high 20 points to lead three Skyhawks in double figures. Jacob Crews had 19 points and Muhammad turned in a double-double 14 points and 11 boards.
 
SEMO heads to Little Rock for an afternoon contest Saturday.