EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. — David McFarland scored 15 points, including a dunk to give SIU-Edwardsville a 10-point lead with a minute-and-a-half left to play, and the Cougars knocked Jacksonville State out of a three-way tie for third place in the Ohio Valley Conference with a 75-67 upset victory Saturday afternoon.
The victory snaps a season-long five-game home court losing streak for the Cougars and is just the third victory in eight games all-time against Jacksonville State, which entered the contest tied with Tennessee Tech and Austin Peay, a game back of second-place Murray State and two games behind conference leader Belmont.
Malcolm Drumwright answered McFarland's dunk with two free throws and Norbertas Giga dunked with 1:06 left go get the Gamecocks within six points, but the Cougars closed the game out by going six-for-six from the free throw line.
Keenan Simmons and Jalen Henry scored 14 and 13 points, respectively, for SIU-Edwardsville (8-15, 4-8).
Jamall Gregory scored 14 points, Jason Burnell and Giga each added 12 points for the Gamecocks (17-8, 8-4). Burnell grabbed 10 rebounds.
Women: SIUE 65, JSU 41
The Jacksonville State women's basketball team fell on the road to SIU Edwardsville in a battle that determined second-place in the Ohio Valley Conference.
JSU (14-9, 8-4 OVC) remains third in the league standings courtesy of a loss by Morehead State earlier in the day, while the Cougars (13-10, 10-2 OVC) solidified their spot behind unbeaten Belmont.
Freshman Taylor Hawks led JSU with 12 points, but she was 3-of-10 from the field as the Gamecocks shot just 27.3 percent (15-55) overall. The 41 points scored was the lowest since JSU's final non-conference game against Georgia State on Dec. 19.
In JSU's four previous double-digit losses, the Gamecocks have bounced back to win the following games this season. Jacksonville State hosts Tennessee Tech at 11:30 a.m. Thursday inside Pete Mathews Coliseum for "Education Day." Local school children from surround elementary schools will be in attendance.