2021 OVC Men's Basketball Championship - First Round

3/4/2021 10:00:36 AM

#4 JACKSONVILLE STATE 68, #5 MURRAY STATE 65 (OT)
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - It may have taken an extra five minutes, but Jacksonville State outlasted Murray State 68-65 Thursday to move on to the second round of the Ohio Valley Conference Championships.

It was Jax State's third consecutive win over the Racers (13-13) this season and the first against the Kentucky rivals in postseason play. The Gamecocks (18-8) were previously 0-3 against MSU in the OVC Tournament.

Senior guard Darian Adams tallied 22 points with 11 coming in the second half to lead Jacksonville State back from a six-point deficit. The Gamecocks trailed for more than 15 minutes in the second period before rallying back to force overtime.

Down 55-53 with less than two minutes left, Adams pulled up for a 3-pointer to put the Red and White ahead by one. Kayne Henry put JSU up by two with a free throw, 57-55, but Murray State's Tevin Brown hit a game-tying basket at the end of regulation to send the contest to overtime.

Brown led the Racers in scoring with six points in the OT period, scoring four in a row to put his team ahead by two, but Jax State struck twice to retake the lead with less than a minute to play. Jalen Finch hit a layup to tie the game, 65-65, and Henry put the Gamecocks up by a pair with a layup with his own.

With 10 seconds remaining, Murray State fouled to send Demaree King to the line. The junior hit the front end to extend the advantage to three, and the Racers missed a couple of last-second looks as time expired.

Adams' seventh 20-point game of the year came on 6-for-16 shooting with three 3-pointers. The senior was 7-for-8 from the free-throw line while drawing eight fouls.

Despite being limited inside, Huffman collected a quiet double-double on 10 points and a team-leading 14 rebounds. Henry was Jacksonville State's second-leading scorer with 14 points.

Murray State was unable to take advantage of having a pair of 20-point performances in the first-round loss. Brown Paced the Racers with 24 points, while KJ Williams followed up with 23.

#3 EASTERN KENTUCKY 70, #6 AUSTIN PEAY 67
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - The No. 3 seed Eastern Kentucky University men's basketball team held on to beat No. 6 seed Austin Peay, 70-67, in the first round of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament on Thursday night at the Ford Center.

The Colonels (22-6) advance to play No. 2 Morehead State in the semifinals on Friday night at 10:30 p.m. ET.

EKU sealed the win with two huge blocks down the stretch. After Austin Peay (14-13) took a 67-66 lead on a three-pointer by Reginal Gee with 1:40 remaining, freshman Devontae Blanton converted a layup on the other end to give the Colonels a 68-67 advantage.

Jordyn Adams attempted a three-pointer on APSU's ensuing possession, but Blanton blocked it with 34 seconds left.

Freshman Wendell Green Jr. was promptly fouled, and he converted both free throws to make it a three-point game, 70-67, with 12 seconds showing.

On the Govs' final possession, Carols Paez squared up for a potential game-tying three-pointer, but sophomore Michael Moreno swatted it away to seal the victory.

Green Jr. finished with a game-high 23 points to go along with six steals and five assists. Junior Tre King powered his way to 17 points and six rebounds, while junior Cooper Robb connected on three three-pointers and tallied 11 points.

Freshman Devontae Blanton came off the bench to record 11 points, four rebounds, one block and one steal.

EKU fell behind by nine early, as a jumper by APSU's Terry Taylor made it 16-7 with 14:27 remaining in the first half. The Colonels responded with a 12-2 run, though, and took a 19-18 lead on a fast-break layup by Blanton at the 10:15 mark.

The two teams went into halftime tied up at 37-37.

Eastern exploded out of the locker room to begin the second half. The Colonels opened the second stanza on a 16-5 run and took their largest lead of the night, 53-42, when King hit a turnaround jumper with 14:03 left in the game.

Austin Peay, however, battled back and took its first lead of the second half, 59-58, on a jumper by Taylor with 5:30 on the clock.

Taylor paced Austin Peay with 19 points and 16 rebounds.

EKU stifled APSU to 3-of-17 shooting from beyond the arc (18 percent).

The Govs won the rebounding battle, 43-29, but EKU won the turnover battle, 17-9. The Colonels scored 18 points off those turnovers.