MIAMI – After 50 minutes of play, a winner was finally decided in Saturday's Men's Basketball contest between Jax State and FIU, with the Gamecocks taking home their 20th victory of the season 84-79 in Miami.
Jax State (20-10, 11-5) led by as many as 11 points, but found themselves trailing for over 18 minutes of action.
The double overtime contest featured 23 lead changes and 15 ties, including six lead changes and two ties in the pair of overtimes alone.
Jax State started off the contest hot on the offensive end of the basketball, shooting nearly 50 percent from the field, making 15-of-31 shots. Four Gamecocks entered the half with seven or more points, led by
Jao Ituka with eight.
Trailing by nine at the half, FIU (9-20, 3-13) stormed out of the break, evening the score in under five minutes of action.
In a tie game with under a minute remaining,
Jaron Pierre Jr. gave Jax State the lead on a fastbreak bucket with 12 seconds left before an FIU basket at the buzzer sent the game to overtime. Ituka came up clutch for the Gamecocks, scoring 15 of Jax State's 27 points in the second half.
The Gamecocks erased an early overtime deficit, jumping ahead three points after a pair of Pierre free throws. After falling behind two with 44 seconds left, Pierre hit a layup to tie the game and send it to a second overtime.
Jax State wasted no time in the second overtime, outscoring FIU 7-0 in the first 1:43 of the second overtime period. The Gamecocks held on for the 84-79 win in the second overtime period. Pierre scored 10 points between the two overtimes.
Ituka led Jax State with 29 points, a season high, while Pierre poured on 22 of his own.
Michael Houge also finished in double figures with 11 points.
Jax State out-rebounded FIU 45-39, including a 14-9 advantage on the offensive glass. Jax State has 20 second chance points to FIU's six.
Five Jax State players finished the game with five or more rebounds, including Miami native
Koree Cotton, who finished with nine points and five boards in his homecoming.
Iaroslav Niagu pulled down a career-high seven rebounds in 20 minutes of action off the bench.
Jax State returns home for the regular season finale on March 8 against Kennesaw State in Jacksonville.
