Saturday, January 31
Charleston, Ill.
7:15 p.m.
Jacksonville State University
60
at
63
Eastern Illinois
Late Drought Sinks Gamecocks in 63-60 Loss at EIU
1/31/2009 9:30:55 PM | Men's Basketball
FINAL STATS
CHARLESTON, Ill. – A second-half drought by the Jacksonville State men's basketball team proved costly on Saturday night, when Eastern Illinois handed the Gamecocks a 63-60 win in Ohio Valley Conference play at Lantz Arena.
The Gamecocks (9-11, 3-8 OVC) managed to hold the Panthers (10-11, 7-4 OVC) without a field goal for the final 6:07 of the game, but JSU went almost nine minutes without a bucket on the offensive end to allow EIU to escape with its sixth-straight win in the series.
Senior Jonathan Toles knocked down a trey with 8:56 to play that gave the Gamecocks a 50-46 lead, but they would get seven points, all from the free throw line, over the next 8:52 before freshman Stephen Hall hit a 3-pointer to bring his team to within two points at 62-60 with four seconds left.
The Gamecocks had a chance to win it late, trailing 60-57 in the final 30 seconds, but sophomore Nick Murphy lost his handle on a drive and eventually turned it over, sending EIU's T.J. Marion to the line, where he extended the lead to 62-57. Hall hit his trey from the left wing with four seconds on the clock to cut the deficit to two. Billy Parrish connected on one of his two free throws with 4.1 to play, and senior DeAndre Bray's desperation attempt fell short at the horn.
Sophomore Jeremy Bynum led a group of three Gamecocks in double figures with 15 points, thanks to three triples and a 4-for-4 effort from the charity stripe. The Oxford, Ala., native also grabbed six rebounds to tie Robinson for the team lead.
Toles scored 14, while Robinson added 10 in the loss. Bray added nine points and five assists for the Gamecocks.
The Panthers were paced by the duo of Romain Martin and Tyler Laser, who scored 19 and 13 points, respectively. Ousmane Cisse added seven points while leading them to a 33-32 advantage on the glass with a game-high 13 boards, 12 on the defensive end.
Eastern Illinois hit seven of its first eight shots from the floor to help build an early 15-5 lead, one the Panthers would be able to maintain for the duration of the first half. The Gamecocks never got closer than five before going into the locker room down 34-25 at the intermission.
Geddes Robinson scored the final basket of the first half and the Gamecocks used it to spark a 19-2 run that turned a 34-23 deficit into a 42-36 JSU advantage. EIU cut it down to one before JSU built the six-point advantage again at 52-46 with 8:16 remaining.
The Panthers answered with a 9-1 run of their own to reclaim the lead at 55-53 with six minutes remaining. The lead changed hands a couple of times before The Panthers pulled out to the three-point lead and was able to hang on.
The Gamecocks will return home next week, where they will play three games in Pete Mathews Coliseum over a span of five days. They will begin the home stand on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. against league-leading Morehead State in a game that will feature “Quick Change,” an act that was featured on the TV show “America's Got Talant.” The duo will perform at halftime. JSU will then face Eastern Kentucky at 4 p.m. on Saturday before closing the homestand on Monday, Feb. 9, against Tennessee State.
CHARLESTON, Ill. – A second-half drought by the Jacksonville State men's basketball team proved costly on Saturday night, when Eastern Illinois handed the Gamecocks a 63-60 win in Ohio Valley Conference play at Lantz Arena.
The Gamecocks (9-11, 3-8 OVC) managed to hold the Panthers (10-11, 7-4 OVC) without a field goal for the final 6:07 of the game, but JSU went almost nine minutes without a bucket on the offensive end to allow EIU to escape with its sixth-straight win in the series.
Senior Jonathan Toles knocked down a trey with 8:56 to play that gave the Gamecocks a 50-46 lead, but they would get seven points, all from the free throw line, over the next 8:52 before freshman Stephen Hall hit a 3-pointer to bring his team to within two points at 62-60 with four seconds left.
The Gamecocks had a chance to win it late, trailing 60-57 in the final 30 seconds, but sophomore Nick Murphy lost his handle on a drive and eventually turned it over, sending EIU's T.J. Marion to the line, where he extended the lead to 62-57. Hall hit his trey from the left wing with four seconds on the clock to cut the deficit to two. Billy Parrish connected on one of his two free throws with 4.1 to play, and senior DeAndre Bray's desperation attempt fell short at the horn.
Sophomore Jeremy Bynum led a group of three Gamecocks in double figures with 15 points, thanks to three triples and a 4-for-4 effort from the charity stripe. The Oxford, Ala., native also grabbed six rebounds to tie Robinson for the team lead.
Toles scored 14, while Robinson added 10 in the loss. Bray added nine points and five assists for the Gamecocks.
The Panthers were paced by the duo of Romain Martin and Tyler Laser, who scored 19 and 13 points, respectively. Ousmane Cisse added seven points while leading them to a 33-32 advantage on the glass with a game-high 13 boards, 12 on the defensive end.
Eastern Illinois hit seven of its first eight shots from the floor to help build an early 15-5 lead, one the Panthers would be able to maintain for the duration of the first half. The Gamecocks never got closer than five before going into the locker room down 34-25 at the intermission.
Geddes Robinson scored the final basket of the first half and the Gamecocks used it to spark a 19-2 run that turned a 34-23 deficit into a 42-36 JSU advantage. EIU cut it down to one before JSU built the six-point advantage again at 52-46 with 8:16 remaining.
The Panthers answered with a 9-1 run of their own to reclaim the lead at 55-53 with six minutes remaining. The lead changed hands a couple of times before The Panthers pulled out to the three-point lead and was able to hang on.
The Gamecocks will return home next week, where they will play three games in Pete Mathews Coliseum over a span of five days. They will begin the home stand on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. against league-leading Morehead State in a game that will feature “Quick Change,” an act that was featured on the TV show “America's Got Talant.” The duo will perform at halftime. JSU will then face Eastern Kentucky at 4 p.m. on Saturday before closing the homestand on Monday, Feb. 9, against Tennessee State.
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