Saturday, February 1
Morehead, Ky.
1 p.m.
Jacksonville State University
54
at
65
Morehead State
Cold Spell Dooms Gamecocks at Morehead State
2/1/2014 3:09:00 PM | Men's Basketball
MOREHEAD, Ky. – The Jacksonville State men's basketball team couldn't overcome a second-half cold spell in a tough 65-54 Ohio Valley Conference loss at Morehead State on Saturday afternoon.
The Gamecocks (10-15, 4-6 OVC) led by as many as seven in the first half, but the Eagles (15-9, 6-3 OVC) turned the tide to start the second half and used an 11-2 run to take control of the game. JSU battled back to within three late but MSU seemed to continue to find answers down the stretch.
Junior Avery Moore scored 13 to lead the Gamecocks, 11 in the first half. He paced a 4-for-7 start from behind the arc for JSU, who then missed 11 in a row from outside while Morehead State made its run. The Tallahassee, Fla., native was 3-for-8 from 3-point land on the afternoon.
Junior D.J. Felder added 12 points and six rebounds for JSU and led the Gamecocks in the post against an Eagle team that has been outrebounded just once in its 24 games this season. The top rebounding team in the OVC and one of the best in the nation used a 27-10 advantage on the glass in the second half to outrebound JSU 40-21.
The Eagles got 14 points from Angelo Warner, while Greg Dotson and Billy Reader each added 10. Chad Posthumus entered the game averaging a double-double and had eight points and 12 boards off of the bench for MSU.
Moore got the Gamecocks started, making the team's first three baskets, all from behind the arc, and pushing it to an early 9-3 lead. The Eagles cut into it but watched JSU answer with another run in the post that stretched the Gamecocks' lead to 18-11 halfway through the first half.
The Eagles scored eight in a row to take their first lead of the game at 19-11 with just under eight minutes in the half, but JSU answered again to pull back on top. The Gamecocks stretched it to as many as six again, but Morehead answered with a long trey from Jordan Purcell to cut that in half.
JSU took a 30-28 lead into the half, one that saw seven of the nine Gamecocks that saw the floor score. Moore led them with 11, while Nick Cook had five.
MSU scored the first five points of the second half to take a 33-30 lead with 17 minutes left, the Eagles' first lead of more than one in the game. The Eagles stretched their run to 11-2 and pushed out to a 39-32 with 13:33 left to play.
The ball started falling for JSU but MSU kept it up and stretched it lead to as much as 11 at 51-40 with just under seven minutes remaining.
The Gamecocks got a pair of free throws from D.J. Felder to stop the MSU run and then got a pair of 3-pointers from Undra Mitchem to cut the deficit to 51-48 with 4:26 left. Mitchem's back-to-back triples snapped an 0-for-11 skid from behind the arc for JSU after a 4-for-7 start.
The Eagles answered again, getting Drew Kelly's second three of the game and a dunk from Jordan Percell to stretch their lead to 56-48 with four minutes to play.
The Gamecocks got a basket to pull to within six and then a stop to get the ball, but after a MSU defender knocked the ball away, the Eagles were given the ball back. Warner was given an old-fashioned 3-point play on the ensuing possession to push the game out of reach.
The Gamecocks won't play a midweek game for the second-straight week but will finally return home on Saturday to host Tennessee Tech. The game will start at 11 a.m. and will be televised on CSS. JSU students and all fans ages 18 and under get in free.
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