BEREA, Ky. – Trailing 62-56 with 10:43 remaining, the Jax State Men's Basketball team finished the game on a 35-18 run in the last 10 minutes of action to tackle the Colonels 91-80 in Berea, Ky. on Saturday. The Gamecocks shot 50 percent from three in the second half on 14 attempts.
Jax State improves to 7-5 on the season while the Colonels fall to an even 6-6 on the year.
Jaron Pierre Jr. led the Gamecocks with 22 points, including 16 in the second half to give Jax State a win over its former conference foe.
EKU led for a majority of the first half before the Gamecocks erased the Colonel lead, entering the break with a 33-33 draw.
Eastern Kentucky wasted no time regaining its lead out of the break, taking an eight-point advantage in just over two minutes of play in the second half. The eight-point lead would be EKU's largest of the day
Jax State cut into the lead, but was unable to take its first lead of the half until 9:14 remaining in the game when Pierre flushed a fast break dunk off a Colonel turnover. The dunk was in the midst of a 15-0 Jax State run that gave the Gamecocks a nine-point lead with 7:15 left in the game.
Jax State outscored EKU by two points the rest of the way and led by as many as 14 points on the way to an 11-point victory.
The Gamecocks out-dueled EKU on the boards, winning the rebound battle 47-36 and finishing with a 27-10 advantage over Eastern Kentucky in bench points.
Four other Gamecocks joined Pierre in double figures, including
Jamar Franklin with 16 and
Marcellus Brigham Jr. with 13.
Jao Ituka and
Michael Houge each finished with 11 points.
Mason Nicholson led Jax State with 11 rebounds of his own while four Gamecocks finished with at least three assists.
Koree Cotton and Pierre tied for the team lead with four assists apiece.
EKU forward Devontae Blanton set a new career high in the game and led all scorers with 36 points.
Jax State finished the game shooting 12-for-24 from three while holding Eastern Kentucky to a 7-for-30 margin from beyond the arc.
Jax State is off for a week before returning home for the final non-conference game of the year on Dec. 30 against Fort Valley State.
