EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The Jacksonville State men's basketball team fell 67-61 to Eastern Illinois in the first round of the OVC Men's Basketball Championships on Wednesday at the Ford Center.
 
The Gamecocks (13-19, 8-10 OVC) managed to whittle a 15-point deficit down to four points in the final minutes, but the Panthers (17-14, 9-9 OVC) were able to keep their distance with the pair of free throws in the end.
 
Seniors Jacara Cross and Ty Hudson finished out their careers with double-digit scoring efforts in their final game. Cross tallied 16 points on 6-for-10 shooting and a 4-for-4 clip from the free-throw line, while Hudson was 4-for-8 from the field and 4-for-4 from the charity stripe for 13 points.
 
After trailing 46-31 halfway through the second period, Jax State was able to cut the Eastern Illinois lead down to four with one minute to play. Redshirt freshman Cam Jones scored his lone basket of the contest to make it a 61-57 game. It was the first of three occasions that the EIU lead was four, but free throws pushed the lead back to six all three times.
 
Hudson scored Jacksonville State's final four points of the game all from the free-throw line.
 
Meanwhile, Eastern Illinois' Josiah Wallace nearly single-handedly gave the Panthers the edge in the end. After tallying just five points in the first, the guard went off for 20 points in the second – scoring 17 of 18 EIU points during a 10-minute stretch.
 
"I thought we competed," Ray Harper said. "But that was kind of a capsule of our season. We couldn't finish plays. Although we had a lot of opportunities, we just couldn't capitalize.
 
"There were times where I thought we were a good rebounding team, but they had a couple of key offensive rebounds late. But, once again, turnovers played a factor. They scored 15 points off turnovers. You have to five Eastern Illinois credit. They did what needed to be done to win the game." Cross scored the first three baskets of the game for Jacksonville State, helping the Gamecocks to stay within three points of the Panthers halfway through the period.
 
Junior Kayne Henry sparked a 7-0 Jax State run with a big two-handed dunk that led to the first lead since scoring the opening basket. A Henry free throw and Elias Harden 3-pointer tied the game 17-17, and Derek St. Hilaire gave JSU the lead with a free throw.
 
St. Hilaire and Cross each scored six points in the first half to lead the Gamecock offense.
 
Eastern Illinois ended the first half on a 10-4 clip to reclaim the lead and take a 27-22 advantage to the locker room at the period. Kashawn Charles had 10 points on 4-for-5 shooting and a pair of triples.

De'Torrion Ware missed double-figure points by one, scoring nine in his final game as a sophomore. He eclipsed the 500-point mark for his career in the contest and moved his career rebounds number to 201 with four boards.
 
Cross ended his career as the winningest Gamecock in the program's Division I history, contributing to 80 wins in four seasons. He closed out his career with 773 points, 347 rebounds and 81 blocks.
 
Hudson ended his career with 528 points, 154 assists and 56 3-pointers in two seasons.
 
Jacksonville State finished the season with its fourth consecutive trip to the OVC Tournament. It is one of just three programs in the league to reach the postseason tournament in each of its last four seasons (Murray State and Belmont).
 
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