Box Score

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – A cold shooting night did the Jacksonville State men's basketball team in on Saturday, when SIU-Edwardsville battled back to hand the Gamecocks a 66-61 loss in Ohio Valley Conference play.

The Gamecocks (5-10, 0-2 OVC) jumped on the conference newcomer Cougars (4-7, 2-0 OVC) but went ice cold down the stretch. JSU shot just 33 percent from the floor in the second half and was 3-for-22 from beyond the arc on the night, while SIUE shot 65 percent in the second half to cap the calendar year with its second win in as many tries in the Cougars' short stint as the OVC's newest member.

The Gamecocks also fell victim to a bad night at the charity stripe for both teams. SIUE struggled to a 63 percent clip but made 75 percent of their attempts in the second half. The Cougars watched JSU make just eight of its 20 attempts for a 40 percent clip.

Sophomore Nick Cook led the Gamecocks with 12 points but scored just one point in the second half. He scored 11 in the first half and grabbed six boards in the game. He was 2-for-8 from the charity stripe  in the game.

Juniors Tavin Gaines and Ronnie Boggs each scored 11 points and pulled in seven boards, a piece to join Cook as the only three Gamecocks in double figures. Senior Stephen Hall couldn't find the basket for much of the night, scoring nine points despite going 4-for-14 from the field. Hall, the team's third-leading scorer and sophomore Brian Williams (3-for-10), the team's second-leading scorer, combined with leading scorer Gaines (4-for-13) to go 11-for-37 from the floor in the game.

The Cougars got 15 points and eight boards from Mark Yelovich, while Jerome Jones bullied his way to a game-high 17 points.

JSU outrebounded the Cougars, 36-34, and forced 17 turnovers, while committing just eight.

JSU scored the game's first points and then held the lead throughout the first half. The Gamecocks stretched it to as many as 13 before a small run by the Cougars cut it to 35-27 at the intermission. Cook was 5-for-6 from the floor in 10 first-half minutes to score 11 points and pulled down five boards before the half.

Both teams shot .417 from the floor in the half but JSU did so on 12 more shot attempts than the Cougars. Six SIUE turnovers to just three by JSU led to an 11-1 advantage for the Gamecocks in points off of their opponent's miscues.

The Cougars started the second half on a hot streak, pulling to within three on a Kris Davis trey with 16:51 to play and then tying the game at 38-38 for the first time since it was 0-0 on a Davis 3-point play with 14:47 to play.

JSU answered with a pair of buckets that gave the Gamecocks a 42-38 lead, but SIUE scored the next five to take its first lead of the night on a Jones layup with 12:05 to play that put the Cougars up 43-42.

The Gamecocks answered to reclaim the lead again, going up by as many as five at 55-50 with just over five minutes to play. The shots wouldn't fall for the Gamecocks late, but the Cougars continued to make theirs and took the lead for good on a Corey Wickware 3-pointer with 2:12 to play that put them up 58-57.

JSU missed on six of its final eight shots, while SIUE converted from the line to hold on for the win.

The Gamecocks will now travel to Cape Girardeau, Mo., where they will face Southeast Missouri on Monday at 7:30 p.m. in the final game of their four-game road trip.