EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Despite outscoring Murray State by seven in the second half Friday, the Jacksonville State men's basketball team was unable to strike comeback gold two night in a row at the Ohio Valley Conference Men's Basketball Championships. The Gamecocks fell 76-74 to the Racers in the semifinals at the Ford Center.
 
Jacksonville State (24-9, 15-3 OVC) overcame a 12-point deficit to take a six-point lead with just under eight minutes to play in the game. After grabbing two quick fouls and sitting five minutes in the first, senior Jason Burnell went off for 15 points in the final period to get JSU back into the contest.
 
A Burnell layup at 12:45 gave the Gamecocks their first lead, 49-48; the first for JSU since 7:18 of the first half. Fellow seniors Jamall Gregory and Christian Cunningham later hit baskets to lengthen the advantage to six, but MSU rallied back to tie the score 67-67 on a 9-3 run.
 
Murray State guard Shaq Buchanan used a 3-pointer to give the Racers (26-4, 16-2 OVC) the lead.

Despite the Gamecocks battling back to take a 74-73 lead with just 23 seconds to play, NBA prospect Ja Morant had the last word. The sophomore point guard hit a shot from the paint, drew a foul and hit the extra point to put the Racers ahead by two. Jacksonville State's Detrick Mostella put a last-second 3-pointer in the air as he fell out of bounds, but the shot fell short as time expired.
 
"The guys really competed their tails off tonight," head coach Ray Harper said.
 
Burnell tallied a team-best 22 points in his final game as a Gamecock, hitting 10 of 18 attempts, and pulled down 11 rebounds to snag his team-high 16th double-double of the season.
 
Cunningham earned the 21th double-double of his career in his final contest, scoring 15 points with 12 boards. The fourth-year Gamecock was 7-for-8 from the field and hit a free throw.
 
Gregory was the third senior to ended the night in double figures, pocketing 18 points in his career finale. Marlon Hunter finished with eight points, Detrick Mostella accounted for two and Maurice Dunlap had a field goal.
 
"We accomplished a lot of things this year," Harper said. "These six seniors have bright futures ahead of them after this school year. I am proud of them, and I look forward to watching them grow as men."

 

On the other end of the floor, Murray State's Morant led the team in scoring with 29 points. He was one of four Racers to score in double figures.
 
It was the third trip to the OVC Tournament's semifinals in as many seasons for the Gamecocks. JSU has now lost in the semifinals to the Racers in its last two seasons, while defeating Belmont in the 2017 edition for a recent record of 1-2.
 
The last three JSU squads represent the first three teams in program history to reach the Ohio Valley's premiere event in triple succession.
 
Jacksonville State ends the season with its most wins in a single Division-I season, 24, while also recording its lowest loss total as a D-I program with nine. The loss also capped the Gamecocks' longest Division-I winning streak at eight.
 
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