BEREA, Ky. – The Jacksonville State men's basketball team dropped an 88-70 decision to Eastern Kentucky on Thursday at Berea College's Seabury Center, receiving its first Ohio Valley Conference loss of the season.
 
The loss brought JSU's winning streak to an end at seven; tied for the program's best at the Division I level. The Gamecocks' 6-0 start to OVC play prior to tonight's game also goes down as tied for the best start to a Division I conference start in school history.
 
The Gamecocks (14-6, 6-1 OVC) outscored the Colonels (10-10, 3-4 OVC) 43-35 in the second half, but the comeback fell short as Eastern Kentucky put the game out of reach early with a 53-point first half.
 
Eastern Kentucky's press defense forced 20 turnovers, which is tied for the most in a single game by JSU this season.
 
Senior Jamall Gregory led the Gamecocks in scoring with 15 points, while junior point guard Ty Hudson totaled 14 for a second consecutive game.
 
Following a 7-0 run to begin the game for JSU, Eastern Kentucky called a timeout that seemed to fix every problem it had within the game's first three minutes. Following the timeout, the Colonels went on a 43-10 tear over the next 10 minutes.
 
Eastern Kentucky reached its largest lead with three seconds to go before the half, going up 53-25 on a Cameron Carmical 3-pointer. The 28-point deficit was both the largest the Gamecocks had seen all year.
 
Jacksonville State trailed 53-27 at the break, but the Gamecocks found second life and some energy to begin the second stanza. Back-to-back baskets from Christian Cunningham sparked the start, including a two-handed dunk. JSU's run reached 21-4 clip after five minutes of action.
 
After the Eastern Kentucky lead was whittled down to a half-best nine by a Jason Burnell 3-pointer, the Colonels regained their composure and began matching baskets to take the advantage back to double-digits for the remainder of the game.
 
 The Colonels' Nick Mayo went for 22 points to pace the offense, going 8-for-14 from the floor. As a team, EKU hit 9-of-22 3-point attempts. On the other hand, JSU was held to 40 percent from the floor and 4-for-24 from 3-point range.
 
The Gamecocks look to rebound Saturday in Morehead, Ky., taking on the Eagles at 2:35 p.m. on ESPN+.  

Season tickets and single-game tickets are now available for purchase online at JSUGamecocksTickets.com, by phone at (256) 782-8499 and on campus at the JSU Ticket Office at Kennamer Hall. Children 18-years-old and under and JSU students are admitted free.
 
For more information on the JSU men's basketball team, follow the Gamecocks on Twitter (@JSU_MBB). For more on all Gamecocks sports teams, follow the official social media accounts of JSU Athletics on Twitter (@JSUGamecocks), Facebook (Facebook.com/JSUGamecocks), Instagram (@JSUGamecocks) and Snapchat (@JSUGamecocks).