Saturday, February 13
Cookeville, Tenn.
5:30 p.m.
Jax State
at
Tennessee Tech
2/12/2016 5:20:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Women's Basketball
JACKSONVILLE – The Jacksonville State men and women basketball teams take to the road this weekend to face the Golden Eagles of Tennessee Tech in Cookeville, Tenn., on Saturday.
The JSU women will attempt to get back in the win column on Saturday against Tech for the second time in a week after claiming a 55-46 win over the Golden Eagles a week ago in Jacksonville. The Gamecocks dropped a midweek decision at Belmont, while Tech topped Tennessee State in Nashville.Â
Both teams are vying for one of the eight spots in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament with just four games left on the schedule. JSU enters the contest at 10-14 overall and 5-7 in OVC play, while Tech stands at 8-17 on the season and a 4-8 mark in the OVC.
Saturday's meeting with Tech will be the 27th overall meeting and ninth on the TTU campus. TTU holds a decisive 18-8 lead in the series, but JSU has claimed the last five meetings, including last Saturday's contest, 55-46, at Pete Mathews Coliseum. A Jax State win will extend its longest winning streak against the Golden Eagles to six games. The JSU streak began with a home win on February 8, 2014 and a buzzer-beater win in the 2014 OVC Tournament quarterfinals. JSU will be attempting to do something that has not been done in the series with Tech - win consecutive games at TTU's Eblen Center. The Gamecocks won 70-54 last season in Cookeville and posted a 67-58. In JSU's last five wins over Tech, it has not allowed the Purple and Gold to eclipse the 60-point mark.
JSU's defensive efforts have been key in the squad's ability to win three of its last four games. The Gamecock's last four opponents have not scored over 60 points, including Belmont's 56 points in a win over JSU on Wednesday. JSU has limited its last for opponents to 52.8 points per game and just 35 percent from the field. Jax State has transitioned the energy on the defensive end to the offensive end as well, especially in late-game situations over the last four games.Â
In the three wins, JSU averaged over 10 points in the final five minutes of the game. Junior Briana Benson continues to lead JSU in scoring at 11.7 points per game, including a league-best .897 free throw shooting mark. In the first 12 OVC games, the Jonesboro, Georgia guard pours in 13.3 points per game. Last Saturday, Benson led all JSU scorers with 14 points, including a 6-for-6 day at the charity stripe. Freshman Rayven Pearson returned to action against Tech and posted 10 points.
Like the women, the men's team also suffered a midweek setback at Belmont, 81-73. The Gamecocks (8-19, 4-8 OVC) now make their second of three consecutive trips to the Volunteer state to face Tennessee Tech in a 7:30 tip time. Â
The Golden Eagles lead the series between the two schools, 16-11, having won the first meeting of the season just one week ago in Jacksonville, 68-58. Jax State aims to do what no team has yet accomplished this season in knocking off TTU at home inside the Eblen Center, where the Purple and Gold are a perfect 12-0 this season.
A combination of injuries along with a difficult stretch in conference play has seen a promising start for JSU in OVC play fade away as of late. The Gamecocks were 4-4 before the start of their current four-game slide, which began at the start of a six game home-and-home slate with the top three teams in the league.
Leading scorer, Malcolm Drumwright, left JSU's Jan. 28 game against Belmont with a shoulder injury. Freshman starter Christian Cunningham also went down in the second half of that game with a foot issue. Neither of the two have returned and junior sharp-shooter, Erik Durham, has since also missed time with injury.
Seniors JaQuail Townser and Jeremy Watson have stepped up to help fill the voids created by injuries. Townser's averaging nearly 10 points per game to lead JSU on the offensive side, while Watson has increased his rebounds per game mark to 6.0, the 12th-best in the conference.
In the last two games: Townser, Watson, Greg Tucker and Jared Hamilton have each played more than 35 minutes as the Gamecock bench is stretched thin.
Coming off the bench against Belmont on Wednesday night was freshman Ed Jones. In his 10th appearance of the season, Jones doubled his total season points with 18 against the Bruins for a new career-high.
Both games will be streamed on the OVC Digital Network as well as broadcast on the Gamecocks Sports Network on WLJS 91.9 with Mike Parris calling the action.
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The JSU women will attempt to get back in the win column on Saturday against Tech for the second time in a week after claiming a 55-46 win over the Golden Eagles a week ago in Jacksonville. The Gamecocks dropped a midweek decision at Belmont, while Tech topped Tennessee State in Nashville.Â
Both teams are vying for one of the eight spots in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament with just four games left on the schedule. JSU enters the contest at 10-14 overall and 5-7 in OVC play, while Tech stands at 8-17 on the season and a 4-8 mark in the OVC.
Saturday's meeting with Tech will be the 27th overall meeting and ninth on the TTU campus. TTU holds a decisive 18-8 lead in the series, but JSU has claimed the last five meetings, including last Saturday's contest, 55-46, at Pete Mathews Coliseum. A Jax State win will extend its longest winning streak against the Golden Eagles to six games. The JSU streak began with a home win on February 8, 2014 and a buzzer-beater win in the 2014 OVC Tournament quarterfinals. JSU will be attempting to do something that has not been done in the series with Tech - win consecutive games at TTU's Eblen Center. The Gamecocks won 70-54 last season in Cookeville and posted a 67-58. In JSU's last five wins over Tech, it has not allowed the Purple and Gold to eclipse the 60-point mark.
JSU's defensive efforts have been key in the squad's ability to win three of its last four games. The Gamecock's last four opponents have not scored over 60 points, including Belmont's 56 points in a win over JSU on Wednesday. JSU has limited its last for opponents to 52.8 points per game and just 35 percent from the field. Jax State has transitioned the energy on the defensive end to the offensive end as well, especially in late-game situations over the last four games.Â
In the three wins, JSU averaged over 10 points in the final five minutes of the game. Junior Briana Benson continues to lead JSU in scoring at 11.7 points per game, including a league-best .897 free throw shooting mark. In the first 12 OVC games, the Jonesboro, Georgia guard pours in 13.3 points per game. Last Saturday, Benson led all JSU scorers with 14 points, including a 6-for-6 day at the charity stripe. Freshman Rayven Pearson returned to action against Tech and posted 10 points.
Like the women, the men's team also suffered a midweek setback at Belmont, 81-73. The Gamecocks (8-19, 4-8 OVC) now make their second of three consecutive trips to the Volunteer state to face Tennessee Tech in a 7:30 tip time. Â
The Golden Eagles lead the series between the two schools, 16-11, having won the first meeting of the season just one week ago in Jacksonville, 68-58. Jax State aims to do what no team has yet accomplished this season in knocking off TTU at home inside the Eblen Center, where the Purple and Gold are a perfect 12-0 this season.
A combination of injuries along with a difficult stretch in conference play has seen a promising start for JSU in OVC play fade away as of late. The Gamecocks were 4-4 before the start of their current four-game slide, which began at the start of a six game home-and-home slate with the top three teams in the league.
Leading scorer, Malcolm Drumwright, left JSU's Jan. 28 game against Belmont with a shoulder injury. Freshman starter Christian Cunningham also went down in the second half of that game with a foot issue. Neither of the two have returned and junior sharp-shooter, Erik Durham, has since also missed time with injury.
Seniors JaQuail Townser and Jeremy Watson have stepped up to help fill the voids created by injuries. Townser's averaging nearly 10 points per game to lead JSU on the offensive side, while Watson has increased his rebounds per game mark to 6.0, the 12th-best in the conference.
In the last two games: Townser, Watson, Greg Tucker and Jared Hamilton have each played more than 35 minutes as the Gamecock bench is stretched thin.
Coming off the bench against Belmont on Wednesday night was freshman Ed Jones. In his 10th appearance of the season, Jones doubled his total season points with 18 against the Bruins for a new career-high.
Both games will be streamed on the OVC Digital Network as well as broadcast on the Gamecocks Sports Network on WLJS 91.9 with Mike Parris calling the action.
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Players Mentioned
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/ Men's BasketballSunday, February 08
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Sunday, January 18
Thursday, January 08
