Thursday, February 5
Jacksonville
7:30 p.m.
Jacksonville State University
57
vs
52
Morehead State
Bray, Gamecock Men Upend First-Place Morehead State
2/6/2009 12:33:31 AM | Men's Basketball
FINAL STATS
JACKSONVILLE – Senior DeAndre Bray carried his Jacksonville State men's basketball team down the stretch on Thursday night, when his career night led the Gamecocks to a 57-52 win over first-place Morehead State at Pete Mathews Coliseum.
Bray, a 5-foot-6 guard from Atlanta, scored a career-high 18 points, 13 in the second half, to lead all scorers, but it was the clutch shots he made down the stretch in a game that saw eight ties and 15 lead changes that gave the Gamecocks (10-11, 4-8 Ohio valley Conference) their fourth-straight win over the Eagles (13-11, 9-3 OVC) at Pete Mathews Coliseum.
He hit four of his seven 3-point attempts and was 4-for-4 from the free throw line in the final 1:38 to help guide his team to a crucial win in a contest that never saw a lead of more than six points by either team. In his 108th career game in a JSU uniform, it was the first game in which Bray led his team in the points column.
He led a group of three Gamecocks in double figures, while also grabbing three rebounds and dishing three assists in 30 minutes on the floor. Fellow senior Jonathan Toles and sophomore Jeremy Bynum each had 13 points in the Gamecocks' second win in their last three games. Bynum, a native of Oxford, Ala., got all 13 of his points in the second half, while Montgomery product Toles added six assists to his scoring night.
The Eagles were led by sophomore Kenneth Faried, whose 20 rebounds led his team to a 44-39 advantage on the glass, and his 14 points were second on the squad to only Leon Buchanan's 17.
Both teams shot under 33 percent from the floor, but the Gamecocks' 8-for-19 effort from behind the arc proved to be the difference on a night where the Eagles were only able to connect on one of their eight triple attempts.
Neither team ld by more than three until the final 71 seconds of the first half, when an 8-0 MSU run was complete and built a 21-15 advantage. That lead would stand until the final four seconds, when two free throw attempts from Bray found the hoop to send the Gamecocks into the half trailing 21-17.
Morehead pushed the lead back to six within the first 17 seconds of the second half, when a Faried jumper gave his team a 23-17 advantage. JSU answered with the next eight points to force the lead to change hands for the first of nine times over the final 18:26.
Morehead was able to build a 46-41 lead with 6:09 on the clock, and the Eagles led by four as late as 52-48 at the 1:29 mark, which is when the Gamecocks made their final push. A triple by Bray cut the deficit to one with 1:16 remaining, and an old-fashioned 3-point play from Toles with 42 seconds left put the Gamecocks on top for good.
The Gamecocks will be at home on Saturday afternoon, when they welcome Eastern Kentucky to Pete Mathews Coliseum. The game will tip at 4 p.m. and will be the second of a three-game homestand that stretches just five days. They will host Tennessee State at 7 p.m. on Monday.
JACKSONVILLE – Senior DeAndre Bray carried his Jacksonville State men's basketball team down the stretch on Thursday night, when his career night led the Gamecocks to a 57-52 win over first-place Morehead State at Pete Mathews Coliseum.
Bray, a 5-foot-6 guard from Atlanta, scored a career-high 18 points, 13 in the second half, to lead all scorers, but it was the clutch shots he made down the stretch in a game that saw eight ties and 15 lead changes that gave the Gamecocks (10-11, 4-8 Ohio valley Conference) their fourth-straight win over the Eagles (13-11, 9-3 OVC) at Pete Mathews Coliseum.
He hit four of his seven 3-point attempts and was 4-for-4 from the free throw line in the final 1:38 to help guide his team to a crucial win in a contest that never saw a lead of more than six points by either team. In his 108th career game in a JSU uniform, it was the first game in which Bray led his team in the points column.
He led a group of three Gamecocks in double figures, while also grabbing three rebounds and dishing three assists in 30 minutes on the floor. Fellow senior Jonathan Toles and sophomore Jeremy Bynum each had 13 points in the Gamecocks' second win in their last three games. Bynum, a native of Oxford, Ala., got all 13 of his points in the second half, while Montgomery product Toles added six assists to his scoring night.
The Eagles were led by sophomore Kenneth Faried, whose 20 rebounds led his team to a 44-39 advantage on the glass, and his 14 points were second on the squad to only Leon Buchanan's 17.
Both teams shot under 33 percent from the floor, but the Gamecocks' 8-for-19 effort from behind the arc proved to be the difference on a night where the Eagles were only able to connect on one of their eight triple attempts.
Neither team ld by more than three until the final 71 seconds of the first half, when an 8-0 MSU run was complete and built a 21-15 advantage. That lead would stand until the final four seconds, when two free throw attempts from Bray found the hoop to send the Gamecocks into the half trailing 21-17.
Morehead pushed the lead back to six within the first 17 seconds of the second half, when a Faried jumper gave his team a 23-17 advantage. JSU answered with the next eight points to force the lead to change hands for the first of nine times over the final 18:26.
Morehead was able to build a 46-41 lead with 6:09 on the clock, and the Eagles led by four as late as 52-48 at the 1:29 mark, which is when the Gamecocks made their final push. A triple by Bray cut the deficit to one with 1:16 remaining, and an old-fashioned 3-point play from Toles with 42 seconds left put the Gamecocks on top for good.
The Gamecocks will be at home on Saturday afternoon, when they welcome Eastern Kentucky to Pete Mathews Coliseum. The game will tip at 4 p.m. and will be the second of a three-game homestand that stretches just five days. They will host Tennessee State at 7 p.m. on Monday.
Sunday, February 08
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Thursday, January 08
