Box Score

JACKSONVILLE – Junior Darion Rackley led the Jacksonville State men's basketball team with 19 points but Eastern Kentucky used a balanced offensive attack to pull out an 86-65 Ohio Valley Conference victory on Saturday at Pete Mathews Coliseum.

Four players scored in double figures for the Colonels (18-9, 8-5 OVC), who connected on 11-of-21 shots from behind the 3-point line while shooting 64.6 percent (31-of-48) from the field. The Gamecocks (10-18, 4-9) managed to shot 42 percent (21-of-50) from the field while dropping their-fourth straight conference game.

Junior D.J. Felder added nine points and seven rebounds for a JSU team that did manage to out-rebound EKU 27-23. Rackley finished the night 6-of-15 from the floor and 7-of-8 from the free throw line to go with four steals.

Tarius Johnson led EKU with 19 points on a 3-of-4 night from behind the 3-point line. Glenn Cosey added 15 points while Orlando Williams was also 3-of-4 from three with 14 points. Corey Walden rounded out the EKU scoring with 12 points and five rebounds.

The Colonels got off to a hot start in the first half, connecting on 14-of-20 (70 percent) of their shots from the field while building a 41-31 lead at the break. Rackely scored 11 points in the half for the Gamecocks, who shot 11-of-23 (47.8 percent) from the floor.

EKU continued the hot shooting performance in the second half, connecting on 7-of-13 3-point shots in the game's final period. Williams hit all three of his 3-point shots in the half while scoring 11 points in the half for the Colonels. 

The Gamecocks finished the second half just 10-of-27 (37 percent) from the floor in the game's final period while hitting 5-of-13 shots from behind the 3-point line. For the game, JSU finished 5-of-17 from three.

JSU will hit the road for two OVC contests next weekend. The Gamecocks will first play Southeast Missouri State on Thursday at 7 p.m. before traveling to Tennessee Tech for a game at 7 p.m. on Saturday.