Tennessee Tech Pulls Away For 72-60 Win Over Gamecocks

Saturday, February 8

JACKSONVILLE

11 a.m.

Jacksonville State University

10-16, 4-7OVC

TENNESSEE TECH

12-13, 5-5OVC

Team	1	2	F
Tennessee Tech	35	37	72
Jacksonville State	28	32	60

2/8/2014 2:27:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

JACKSONVILLE – Four players scored in double figures for the Jacksonville State men's basketball team but the Gamecocks struggled from the field and fell to Tennessee Tech 72-60 on Saturday afternoon at Pete Mathews Coliseum.

The Gamecocks (10-16, 4-7 Ohio Valley Conference) shot just 16-of-54 (30 percent) from the field for the game and watched as the Golden Eagles (12-13, 5-5 OVC) finished the game shooting 27-of-53 (50.9 percent) while pulling away in the second half.

Junior Darion Rackley finished with a game-high 16 points on a 10-of-13 performance from the free throw line. Senior Brian Williams added 14 points while junior D.J. Felder scored 13 points, all in the first half and grabbed eight rebounds. Junior Avery Moore rounded out the Gamecocks scoring with 10 points.

Dennis Ogbe led the Golden Eagles with 15 points and eight rebounds on a 6-of-7 performance from the floor. Ladon Carter added 12 points and eight rebounds for a TTU team that outrebounded the Gamecocks 41-30. Dwan Caldwell finished with 11 points while DeOndre Haynes rounded out the scoring with 10 points.

The Gamecocks got off to a slow start, shooting just 5-of-25 (20 percent) from the floor in the first half while the Golden Eagles finished 13-of-28 (46.4 percent) on way to building a 35-28 lead at the break. JSU would use a 17-of-20 performance from the free throw line to help stay in the game in the half.

Felder scored a bucket in the paint and followed with a free throw to give JSU an 8-6 lead with 15:4 in the half. The Golden Eagles then responded with a 9-0 run to build a 15-8 lead with 11:57 to play. JSU missed seven straight shots from the field during the run but managed to end the run by going 7-of-8 from the free throw line.
Felder's putback with 8:08 left in the half ended a nearly seven minute scoring drought and cut the score to 21-17. The Gamecocks then closed the half hitting nine free throws while converting just one shot from the field in the final five minutes of the half.

The Gamecocks came out in the second half and managed to cut the lead to 42-40 with 12:52 left in the game. A steal by Rackley led to a fast break dunk by senior Nick Cook capped an 8-3 run for JSU.

The Golden Eagles then responded with an 18-4 run to push the lead to 60-44 with 7:37 remaining. Following a timeout by JSU, Moore responded with a 3-pointer to give the Gamecocks their first field goal in the half since Cook's dunk with 12:52.

TTU then scored six straight points to push the lead to 19 at 66-47 with 5:16 remaining. Rackley then scored six straight points for the Gamecocks before Williams added six in a row, including the Gamecocks last bucket with 2:05 remaining.

JSU will be home for an OVC showdown with Morehead State on Thursday at 7 p.m. before welcoming Eastern Kentucky to The Pete on Saturday at 4:30 p.m.