Skyhawks drop OVC title game
NASHVILLE — Greg Tucker scored all 14 of his points in the first half as he helped Jacksonville State beat UT-Martin 66-55 Saturday night in the Ohio Valley Conference championship game to earn its first trip to the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.
A former Division II program, this was the first time the Gamecocks (20-14) had even reached the OVC tournament final since joining the league for the 2003-04 season. They upset regular-season champion Belmont in the semifinals and knocked off the West Division winner in the title game for their fourth straight win.
Erik Durham led No. 4 seed Jacksonville State with 17 points and Malcolm Drumwright added 13 as the Gamecocks became the first school in the country to earn an automatic NCAA tournament bid this year.
UT-Martin (21-12) had its three-game winning streak snapped and lost in the title game for the second straight year.
Jacolby Mobley led the second-seeded Skyhawks with 18 points, Matthew Butler had 17 and Javier Martinez 13.
This wasn’t the first postseason game between these former Division II teams, but they hadn’t met in a tournament since the 1984 Gulf South Conference tournament in a game won easily by Jacksonville State.
This time, the Gamecocks jumped out to a 36-23 halftime lead, then held on despite not making a field goal in the second half until Durham’s 3-pointer with 11:42 left. UT-Martin wasn’t much better during that stretch and only pulled to 37-31 on a jumper by Kahari Beaufort with 14:20 to go.
Norbertas Giga added a dunk almost midway through the half to push Jacksonville State’s lead back to double digits. UT-Martin didn’t get closer than nine the rest of the way.
Both teams struggled to shoot from the opening tip. Jacksonville State settled down first and jumped out to a ninepoint lead. The Skyhawks finally started knocking down shots and pulled to 20-17 on a jumper by Butler with 5:43 left. Jacksonville State answered with six straight points.
Fatodd Lewis’ layup with 3:06 remaining pulled UT-Martin to 26-22. The Skyhawks didn’t hit another field goal for the rest of the half, and Jacksonville State finished the period on a 10-1 run.
The Gamecocks are best known for their football team — the OVC champs the past three seasons. The basketball team already was the 10th-best nationally in terms of progress, with a nine-win turnaround from a season ago under firstyear coach Ray Harper. They now have matched the 2002-03 squad for most wins as a Division I program.
The Skyhawks notched their third straight 20-win season but missed out on matching the 2008-09 team that won 22.