JSU Rally Comes Up Short Against Morehead State

Thursday, February 13

JACKSONVILLE

7 p.m.

Jacksonville State University

10-17, 4-8OVC

MOREHEAD STATE

17-9, 8-3OVC

Team	1	2	F
Morehead State	25	44	69
Jacksonville State	27	40	67

2/13/2014 10:06:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

JACKSONVILLE – The Jacksonville State men's basketball team overcame a sluggish start against Morehead State but its rally came up short in a 69-67 Ohio Valley Conference loss at Pete Mathews Coliseum on Thursday night.

Freshman Undra Mitchem led four Gamecocks (10-17, 4-8 OVC) in double figures with 13 points and almost led an upset of the second-place team in the OVC's East Division.

Picking up extra minutes after JSU's second-leading scorer and point guard Brian Williams missed with an injury, junior Grant White, who had scored 10 total points in his previous 11 games, was one of three JSU players with 12 points, joining fellow juniors D.J. Felder and Darion Rackley. Felder also added a team-high seven rebounds.

Trailing 69-67 with 2.2 second left, White found Mitchem on the low blocks, where he drew a foul and went to the line. He missed the first and then intentionally missed the second, but MSU grabbed the board to secure its win.

Drew Kelly led the Eagles with 19 points on a 7-of-11 performance from the field. Angelo Warner added 16 points for a MSU team that finished the game 20-of-46 (43.5 percent) from the field and 26-of-33 (78.8 percent) from the free throw line. Chad Posthumus led the way with 11 rebounds to help the Eagles out-rebound the Gamecocks 38-26 on the night.

The Gamecocks finished the game 23-of-54 (42.5 percent) from the field after starting the game 6-of-20 from the floor and shot 76.2 percent (16-of-21) from the free throw line.

JSU got off to a slow start, opening the game 2-of-8 from the floor while the Eagles raced out to a 9-2 lead. Felder then hit a jump shot with 16:44 to play in the half to give JSU just their second field goal of the game, cutting the lead to 9-4.

The Eagles then went on a 9-2 run that saw the Gamecocks miss seven straight shots. Junior Jamal Hunter finally ended the scoring drought for JSU with a rebound and putback to cut the lead to 13-6.

Trailing 20-8, the Gamecocks managed to close the half on a 19-5 run to take a 27-25 halftime lead. Rackley led the charge, scoring six of his eight first half points during the run. After starting the half 9-for-21 from the field, the Eagles finished just 2-of-8 from the field with seven turnovers during the run.

Rackley started the run off with a layup before Mitchem added two free throws. After a turnover by the Eagles, Rackley would add two more from the line before White scored four straight to cut the lead to 20-18 with 3:47 to play.

Freshman Joe Kuligoski came up with a steal that led to Felder being fouled. Felder knocked down both free throws to tie the game at 20-20. Morehead State would then break their scoring drought with a jumper to reclaim the lead at 22-20. That lead would be short lived as Rackley again tied the game up with a layup.

The Eagles then used a free throw to reclaim the lead before Kuligoski put JSU back on top at 23-21 with a 3-point shot with 1:55 left in the half. White then hit a jumper before the Eagles managed a bucket at the end of the half to cut the lead to 27-25.

The Gamecocks came out of the break and managed to build a 49-43 lead with 9:59 remaining. The Eagles then hit six straight shots from the free throw line before a layup capped an 8-0 run to take a 51-49 lead. White then ended the run with two more free throws for JSU before the Eagles countered with a 3-point shot to take a 54-51 lead.

Morehead State would then score their next nine points from the free throw line while building a 63-57 lead with 3:25 left. The Eagles finished the second half shooting 24-of-29.

Mitchem would then hit two free throws for the Gamecocks and Felder hit a jumper following a MSU bucket to cut the lead to 65-61. Senior Nick Cook then found Rackley opened for a dunk to pull JSU within 65-63 with 1:29 remaining.

The Eagles then went 1-of-2 from the line to extend the lead to 66-63. The Gamecocks missed a shot to tie the game and watched as MSU managed a layup to extend the lead to 68-63. Cook then came up with an offensive rebound and slammed it home to cut the lead to 68-65 with 23 seconds left.

The Eagles again went 1-of-2 from the line and Mitchem managed to race down the court for a quick layup with 12 seconds to cut the lead to 69-67. JSU quickly fouled and watched as MSU missed both shots from the free throw line.

JSU got the rebound and raced down the court but missed a shot. The Gamecocks then managed to get the ball back after a jump ball was called with 2.2 seconds remaining. Mitchem then took the in-bounds and was fouled while going up. The freshman would then miss the first free throw and the Gamecocks were unable to come up with the rebound after the intentional miss as the Eagles held on for the 69-67 victory.

The Gamecocks will return to action this Saturday with an OVC showdown with Eastern Kentucky. Tipoff is set for 4:30 p.m. at Pete Mathews Coliseum and will follow the JSU women's team's game against the Colonels at 2 p.m.