JACKSONVILLE – Despite a hot start to the game Saturday afternoon, the Jacksonville State men's basketball team saw Austin Peay rally from down 16 to win 71-67 at Pete Mathews Coliseum.
 
The Gamecocks (7-10, 2-2 OVC) were outscored 71-41 by the Governors (10-7, 4-0 OVC) following the first seven minutes of the game en route to dropping their second OVC contest of the season.
 
"We have to be better with the basketball," head coach Ray Harper said. "You have to take advantage when you can, and we did at times, but we turned the ball over at a high rate. We have to find a way to finish better, but we didn't today."
 
The Gamecocks got off to their best start in a game this season with a 16-0 run through the first five minutes. During the stretch, junior Martin Roub hit a couple of 3-pointer to lead the offense in scoring.
 
The defense forced the Govs to miss their first eight field-goal attempts, including three turnovers and a shot clock violation. JSU outrebounded APSU 12-1 during the scoring run.
 
Austin Peay found its groove later in the period, shortening the home team's advantage to 10 at the break. Jordyn Adams, Terry Taylor and Evan Hinson each tallied six points to put the Governors back in contention.
 
Derrick Cook led the Gamecocks with nine points at the break, going 2-for-2 shooting with five successful free throws. Roub followed up with eight points on two 3-pointers and a field goal.
 
After trailing by 10 at the half, 36-26, Austin Peay began the second period on a four-point streak to cut the JSU advantage to three. The visitors whittled the lead down to one on two occasions midway through the stanza, but a pair of six-point runs bailed the Gamecocks out in both moments.
 
Austin Peay did not go away after the two Jacksonville State scoring streaks, however, and used a pair of Taylor free throws and a basket from their top scorer to claim their first lead, 65-63, with a little more than a minute remaining.
 
The Gamecocks never saw the lead again as the Governors extended their late go-ahead with two more Taylor freebies and an Adams shot from the charity stripe.
 
A couple of Ware free throws and a layup from Marek Welsch cut the deficit back to two, 69-67, with three seconds to play, but two more foul shots from Adams put the game out of reach.
 
Despite holding Taylor to 14 points – nearly nine points below is per-game average – Adams pitched in 13 points and guard Carlos Paez knocked in a game-high 16. Paez was 5-for-6 from beyond the arc.
 
For Jacksonville State, Elias Harden led the offense with 15 points. Ware tallied 13 and Cook finished with 11, but 20 total turnovers – the most since coughing up the ball 20 times Dec. 7 at Alabama A&M – doomed the Gamecocks in the end.
 
The Gamecocks hit the road for their next two contests, traveling to the Land of Lincoln to square off against Eastern Illinois on Thursday and SIUE on Saturday. Both games will broadcast live on ESPN+. Thursday's game tips at 7:30 p.m. while the Saturday matchup begins at 1 p.m.
 
For more information on the JSU men's basketball team, follow the Gamecocks on Twitter (@JSUGamecocksMBB) and Instagram (@JSUGamecocksMBB). For more on all Gamecocks sports teams, follow the official social media accounts of JSU Athletics on Twitter (@JSUGamecocks), Facebook (Facebook.com/JSUGamecocks) and Instagram (@JSUGamecocks).