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Photo Gallery (by
Sandy King)
CHARLESTON, Ill. – Jacksonville State was able to string together a few more baskets than Eastern Illinois in the second overtime period as the Gamecocks beat the Panthers, 89-84, on Thursday night in Lantz Arena.
It was the first overtime loss of the season for EIU as they fell to 14-16 overall, 7-10 in the OVC. EIU is now 4-1 in overtime games this season. JSU kept pace in the OVC race as they improved to 22-8 overall, 14-3 in the OVC.
Eastern Illinois held a three point lead with 1:20 remaining in regulation on a free throw by
Shareef Smith that put EIU up 65-62. De'Torrion Ware made a pair of free throw attempts with 1:09 left to make it a one point game. Ware was a force for JSU scoring 20 points off the bench with four 3-pointers and a 6-of-6 night at the line.
JaQualis Matlock then went 1-of-2 at the foul line with 43 seconds remaining to give EIU a two point lead. Jason Burnell hauled in an offensive rebound on a missed 3-pointer by JSU and converted a lay-up to tie the game with 20 seconds remaining. EIU would miss on a game winning shot with four seconds left.
In the first overtime period, EIU again led by three points with only 18 seconds left as
Josiah Wallace hit a pair of free throws. Following a lay-up by Detrick Mostella with ten seconds left, EIU again was able to convert 1-of-2 at the foul line to make it a two-point game. Ty Hudson hit a driving lay-up with three seconds left to force the second overtime.
In the second overtime JSU went ahead by two points with 58 seconds left on free throws by Burnell. He would finish with 26 points and 14 rebounds.
EIU fell behind by four points on the next possession as the Panthers missed a lay-up and were forced to foul. Mostella made both free throws and the Panthers were forced to foul to close out the game. JSU made 21-of-26 free throws for the game including 12-of-14 in overtime. Mostella had 12 points for JSU.
The Panthers were led by
Mack Smith with 24 points as he extended his NCAA leading consecutive games with a 3-pointer made streak to 47 games. The Panthers knocked down 11 3-pointers in the game as they set the school record for 3-pointers made in a season with 261. Wallace finished with 23 points.
Senior
Aboubacar Diallo had eight rebounds and one block as he moved into a tie for second on the EIU career blocks list with Eric Frankford at 100. Diallo and
Lucas Jones will be honored on Saturday prior to the start of the Panthers final home game at 3:15 p.m. against Tennessee Tech.