BUFFALO, N.Y. – The Jacksonville State men's basketball team downed Canisius 80-78 in overtime Wednesday night to earn a first-round victory in the CBI Tournament.
 
The Gamecocks (22-12) added another win to their historic year and claimed their first postseason national tournament victory of the Division I era, while seniors Norbertas Giga and Malcolm Drumwright helped kept the Gamecocks' postseason championship hopes alive with big offensive showings against the Golden Griffins. Drumwright picked up his ninth 20-point performance of the season and Giga pitched in a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds.
 
"I hope Norbertas plays the entire tournament like he did tonight," head coach Ray Harper said. "He played really well, and Malcolm had a great game. Those seniors do not want this season to end."
 
Jacksonville State led Canisius (21-12) by three points with seven seconds remaining in regulation. Giga, who was 5-for-5 from the free-throw line, knocked down a couple of freebies to give JSU its 71-68 padding. The Golden Griffins brought the ball down the court and Isaiah Reese threw up a last-second three-pointer that banked in to send the game to overtime.
 
The Griffs carried the momentum into the five-minute period, scoring the first four points of overtime. Four consecutive Gamecock free throws, two by Jason Burnell and two by Drumwright, tied the game 75-75 with three minutes to go, but JSU did not regain the lead until 34 seconds were left in the contest. Marlon Hunter hit a layup to give Jacksonville State a one-point lead and another Burnell free throw made it a two-point game. With one second left, Canisius put up a game-deciding three-pointer, but it missed to the right to give the Gamecocks the win.
 
"We have to get better if we want to win the next one," Harper said. "We looked like a team that hasn't played in a couple of weeks. We took some bad shots, turned the ball over and made some mistakes, but we had guys step up and keep us in the game. Maurice Dunlap and Ashton Spears played nearly the entire second half and did a good job for us."
 
Despite being outscored 38-34 in the second, Jacksonville State controlled the game 37-33 at the half. Drumwright led the Gamecocks with 10 points in the first half, going 3-for-7 from the field with two three-pointers and two free throws. Following a six-point second half, the senior scored four of JSU's nine OT pointson a layup and two free throws.
 
Giga kept the Gamecocks in the game late, hitting four of his five free throws with less than 16 seconds to go in the game. He put up six points and grabbed six rebounds in the first half before leading JSU with 11 second-half points.
 
Jacksonville State moves on to the CBI quarterfinals and will face the winner of Seattle vs. Central Arkansas on March 19.
 
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