MARTIN, Tenn. - Junior Andres Irarrazabal walks onto the court like a prize fighter stepping into the ring. He has his game face on, and head coach Jason James knows his team will have to go 12 rounds or the full 40 minutes for a victory.

Irarrazabal, making his fifth start of the season Tuesday night at the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center against Southeast Missouri State, scored a career-high 14 points and grabbed six rebounds to lead the Skyhawks to a 73-70 victory, their first Ohio Valley Conference win of the 2009-10 season.

"Coach always tells me to work hard, play hard, rebound and play defense," Irarrazabal said. "He wanted me to be the spark and finish tonight."

Freshman Zach Jones was also in the starting lineup against Southeast Missouri. For Jones, a Memphis native, it was his second start of the season. Jones had nine points and six rebounds.

"We had to lay it all on the line," Jones said.

Both Irarrazabal and Jones made big plays in the final three minutes of the game. With 2:54 to play Irarrazabal had a block and a defensive rebound that led to a layup on the opposite end of the court. With the layup the Skyhawks grabbed a 65-64 lead.

Jones recorded a block, and a defensive rebound that led to Marquis Weddle's 3-pointer to give the Skyhawks a four-point advantage, 68-64, with 1:59 on the clock.

"This lineup doesn't give us a scoring punch, but hopefully that will come," James said. "We hung together. We continued to run our offense and we guarded them."

Weddle led the Skyhawks' scoring effort with 15 points, while Reuben Clayton had 12 points and seven assists.

"Every person on this team brings a different piece to the table," James said. "We had all the pieces against Southeast Missouri."

Throw in a little "enough is enough" attitude and the Skyhawks were able to claim the victory. "We have to fight and battle, because we don't have anyone on this team who can score a knockout," James said.

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