MARTIN, Tenn. – The Jacksonville State men's basketball team dropped a 66-64 decision to UT Martin at the Elam Center Thursday night, falling out of first place in the Ohio Valley Conference standings.
 
The Skyhawks (7-15, 2-9 OVC) outscored the Gamecocks (16-8, 8-3 OVC) 35-26 in the second half to overcome a seven-point deficit at the half.
 
The loss is the first for Jacksonville State after leading at halftime.
 
"We weren't good from the start tonight," head coach Ray Harper said. "We didn't execute down the stretch, we made some key turnovers and we missed some point-blank shots. We did everything to not win the game.
 
"Good teams will execute to finish games off. We just didn't do it."
 
Senior Marlon Hunter led the Gamecocks with a 16-point performance in his 17th double-digit scoring game of the year, but it wasn't enough to overcome a high-scoring second half from UT Martin.
 
The Skyhawks received a big boost off the bench from Quintin Dove who scored a game-high 21 points on 10-of-13 shooting, including a 3-pointer. He split his scoring over the two periods near even, getting 11 in the first and 10 in the second.
 
No more than three points separated the Gamecocks and Skyhawks through the game's first 19 minutes that saw the lead change hands seven times. It wasn't until the last minute of the period that Jacksonville State found a 7-0 run to take a 38-31 advantage to the locker room.
 
Freshman De'Torrion Ware and senior Christian Cunningham hit back-to-back layups to stretch the JSU lead to four, 35-31, before senior guard Jason Burnell knocked down a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give Jacksonville State the momentum at the break.
 
UT Martin quickly answered the Gamecocks' run with a 7-0 run of their own to begin the second half, tying the game 38-38. The Skyhawks run grew to 13-4 through the first four minutes, led by six points and a dunk from Dove.
 
After seven more lead changes in the second, UTM claimed the lead for good with just over a minute to play on a Preston Parks 3-pointer, going ahead 66-64.
 
Jacksonville State had the opportunity to tie the game with five seconds to go, but a couple of missed chances at the free-throw line saw the Gamecocks' first-place hopes dashed in the final moments of the road contest.
 
With Murray State (18-4, 9-2 OVC), Austin Peay (17-7, 9-2 OVC) and Belmont (18-4, 9-2 OVC) winning their Thursday games, JSU dropped to fourth in the league with seven games remaining in the regular season.
 
The Gamecocks look to get back on track Saturday at 4:15 p.m. at Southeast Missouri. The Redhawks (8-16, 3-8 OVC) earned a win over Tennessee Tech on Thursday on their home court at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau, Mo. Saturday's game will broadcast 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 Pete Mathews Coliseum. 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).