Morehead picks up win on road in OVC

From OVCSports.com:

MOREHEAD STATE 63, JACKSONVILLE STATE 55
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Morehead State used a late run to push past the Jacksonville State men's basketball team and escape Pete Mathews coliseum with a 63-55 win in Ohio Valley Conference play.

In just the third home game since mid-November for the Gamecocks (5-12, 0-4 OVC), they jumped on the defending champion Eagles (8-8, 2-1 OVC) late in the first half and extended their lead to as many as 13 early in the second half. JSU then hit a cold spell from the floor, making just five of its last 15 shots down the stretch.

Senior Stephen Hall led the Gamecocks with 15 points and nine boards, thanks to a 5-for-8 night from the floor and a 5-for-8 effort from the free throw line. The Birmingham, Ala., native's rebounds accounted for more than one-third of the team's 24 boards, while Kahlil Owens grabbed 11 boards to pace the Eagles to 31 team rebounds.

Sophomore Brian Williams added 12 points for JSU, while junior Mason Leggett pitched in nine. Junior Tarvin Gaines, JSU's leading scorer entering the game, didn't score and took just three field goal attempts, all from behind the arc.

Drew Kelly led the Eagles with 20 points, going 6-for-11 from the floor and 7-of-8 from the charity stripe. Angelo Wagner added 10 points off of the bench to join Kelly as the Eagles only players in double figures.

JSU used a 14-6 run over the final seven minutes of the first half to take a 27-23 lead into the locker room at the intermission and then stretched its lead to 40-27 with 16:10 to play by making five of its first six shots of the second half. At the point of the 13-point lead, the Gamecocks' largest of the night, JSU had made 61 percent of its shots.

The Gamecocks hit a cold spell from that point, and the Eagles took advantage with a 16-3 run that tied the game at 43-43 with just under 10 minutes on the clock and then took their first lead since the five-minute mark of the first half with 7:59 to play on a Lamont Austin layup. Leggett's second trey of the game answered and gave JSU the lead right back, but a Kelly 3-pointer on the other end took the lead away from JSU for good.