NASSAU, The Bahamas – Jacksonville State fell to Valparaiso, 78-70, in the opening day of the Baha Mar Hoops Nassau Championship late Monday night after a wild afternoon of adjustments.
A week ago JSU (1-3) planned on opening the international tournament against Abilene Christian, until the Wildcats announced at the end of last week they would be unable to participate due to Covid-19 protocols. With a reshuffled bracket, JSU wound up with a first-ever meeting with Valparaiso.
On Monday, leak in the roof following an afternoon thunderstorm halted the second game of the day between Drexel and Tulane. JSU's anticipated 5:30 tip-off was initially delayed momentarily, then until around 8:00 following the paused contest ahead. The main court was unable to resume play so tournament officials ultimately moved play to the practice court area. That transition, alone with the resumed game eventually going to overtime, and JSU found itself waiting to hitting the floor for warmups at 9:00.
Once underway, senior
Brandon Huffman and junior
Demaree King paced JSU early with 22 of the Gamecocks' first 24 points. King, who finished 7-of-11 from three-point range, poured in a season-best 23 points to end one shy of his career-high. Huffman notched a season-high of his 15 points and led JSU with nine boards.
A game that featured 13 lead changes saw JSU up just one in closing seconds of the first half when King drilled a three at the horn to send JSU to the locker room with a 32-28 advantage.
A fast start out of the break built a 38-31 lead for JSU, but Valpo would flip the script over the next eight minutes with a 19-5 run to grab a seven-point lead of their own.
The two sides were tied at 58 with five minutes remaining, and still tied with just under two to play when a defensive breakdown allowed the Beacons to capitalize on an old fashion three-point play to grab the lead for good. Once ahead, Valpo locked down the win with its final 10 points coming at the free throw line as JSU was forced to foul with time running out.
The Gamecocks will not play on Tuesday due to the uneven seven-team bracket. Their Wednesday opponent is yet to be determined.
