JACKSONVILLE – The Jacksonville State men's basketball team came up just short in a neck-and-neck battle with Belmont on Saturday, falling 98-91 at Pete Mathews Coliseum.
 
The high-scoring contest saw the lead change hands 11 times and both teams lead by double digits, but the Bruins (14-1, 8-0 OVC) managed to remain undefeated in Ohio Valley Conference play thanks to an 11-2 run in the final six minutes of play.
 
"I thought we did a good job of taking care of the basketball and getting good looks, but we made a couple of bad decisions late that cost us." Head Coach Ray Harper said. "Like I told our kids in the locker room, you just can't trade baskets, and that's what we were doing. You have to make stop if you want to gain momentum and win."
 
Jacksonville State (8-5, 4-3 OVC) led by as much as eight following the second half's first media timeout, but Belmont caught up and took the lead for good on a 3-pointer from JaCobi Wood. Just the second trey of the night for Wood, the basket gave the Bruins an 83-81 lead with 4:30 to play.
 
During a three-minute scoreless stretch for JSU, Wood tallied seven of his 15 points to extend Belmont's lead to eight, 89-81.
 
Despite some missed free throws down the stretch, which allowed the Gamecocks to come within five points of the lead with less than a minute to play, the Bruins knocked down five of their last six shots from the charity stripe to put the game out of reach.
 
Three Gamecocks and five Bruins scored in double figures. JSU senior Darian Adams earned his first double-double of the season with 18 points and 10 assists. Adams was just one rebound shy of Jax State's first triple-double in more than 14 years, and he became the first JSU player to have 10 helpers in a single game since Malcolm Drumwright on Jan. 10, 2017 vs. Fort Valley State.
 
Both Martin Roub and Amanze Ngumezi tied their best single-game scoring marks, tallying 21 and 20 points, respectively. Roub was 8-for-11 with five 3-pointers, while Ngumezi was 8-for-11 with four buckets from beyond the arc. In total, Jacksonville State hit 15 triples, putting them just four away from tying the program's all-time mark for 3-pointers in a single game.
 
For Belmont, Ben Sheppard (22 points), Luke Smith (18 points), Nick Muszynski (18 points), Wood (15 points) and Grayson Murphey (10 points) led the scoring efforts. Of the Bruins' 98 points, 20 came from the free throw line on an 83.3 percent clip. BU shot 24 free throws and committed just nine fouls, while the Gamecocks were whistled for 19 fouls and went to the free-throw line just six times.
 
Jacksonville State's next pair of games are on the road. The Gamecocks visit Murray State on Thursday, Jan. 21 at 7:30 p.m. The team wraps up the trip Saturday, Jan. 23 with a 4 p.m. contest at Austin Peay.
 
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).