JACKSONVILLE – The Jacksonville State men's basketball team stormed back to tie Morehead State in the final minute but dropped a 66-63 Ohio Valley Conference matchup on Saturday at Pete Mathews Coliseum.
 
After an abnormal start from outside by the Eagles (9-13, 4-3 OVC) that pushed them to an early lead, the Gamecocks (9-13, 2-6 OVC) clawed back before watching MSU win the game at the free throw line.
 
One of the worst 3-point shooting teams in the OVC headed into the game, MSU went a red-hot 9-for-12 from behind the arc in the first half. The hot shooting from outside overcompensated for an ice cold start inside. The Eagles made just one of their first 10 attempts from inside the arc but still led by as many as 12 points.
 
JSU crawled back to cut that deficit to four before MSU's final field goal of the night, a Kareem Storey layup with 5:09 left, made it a 60-54 game with 5:09 to play.
 
Senior Jamal Hunter cut it to four, where it stayed until the 1:03 mark, when a Malcolm Drumwright jumper in the lane and then a layup by the freshman after stealing the inbounds pass tied the game at 62-62 with 39 seconds on the clock.
 
Corban Collins drew contact and made his free throws to push MSU back up by two and then a miss on Drumwright's first of two attempts kept the Gamecocks from tying the game with 11 ticks left. Angelo Warner made both after a JSU foul and JaQuail Townser's off-balance attempt to tie missed to end the game.
 
Drumwright and seniors Darion Rackley and D.J. Felder each scored in double figures for the Gamecocks, with Rackley leading the way with 16. The St. Louis native stuggled from the floor, going just 3-for-13, but got to the stripe and went 1-for-11 to account for most of his points. Over his last six games, Rackley is 50-for-54 (.926) from the line.
 
Felder had 14 on a 4-for-10 shooting night that also saw him get to the line and make all six of his attempts. The Gamecocks shot over 85 percent (24-for-28) from the stripe as a team. Drumwright had 10 points, while senior Avery Moore added eight and sophomore Joe Kuligoski six.
 
The Eagles got 16 from Collins, who led four players in double figures. Warner had 15, while Brent Arrington and Storey had 14 and 13 points, respectively.
 
The Gamecocks take to the road, where they will face Belmont on Thursday at 7 p.m. in Nashville. The game will be broadcast on the Gamecock Sports Network and on the OVC Digital Network.