The Chanticleer

Issue date: 2/16/06 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Chris Yow Dorien Brown rejects the ball back into the face of a Morehead State shooter. Brown scored 12 points and had four blocks in his 22 minutes of play.

Thanks to wins over Tennessee Tech and Morehead State, Jacksonville State's men's basketball team finds itself in a position they've wanted all season long-a chance at a first-round home game in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.

The 77-68 win over Morehead State on Valentine's evening, along with a 75-70 win over Samford by Eastern Kentucky sets up tonight… the most important game of the year.

Let's set the stage. Going into tonight's game, JSU sits alone in fourth place, one-half game ahead of Austin Peay and a full game ahead of Eastern Kentucky. An EKU victory tonight would pull all three teams into a deadlock, and Eastern Kentucky would benefit the most from that tie. However, just behind the Governors are Tennessee State and UT-Martin.

JSU (12-11, 10-7 OVC) got a huge win over Tennessee Tech last Saturday, avenging a January 12 loss at Pete Mathews Coliseum. On that January night, Milone Clark crushed the JSU defense in the paint, scoring 21 points and being a force inside. This time around, the Gamecocks shut down Clark, holding him to 2-of-7 from the floor and eight points.

"I don't know if you remember, but it was the Tennessee Tech game that I pulled my starters in the last eight minutes of the game," JSU coach Mike LaPlante said. "Since that time, we've been much better defensively."

Senior Walker D. Russell scored a game-high 19 points while two Gamecocks pulled down double doubles in the win against the Golden Eagles. Courtney Bradley scored 16 and pulled down 11 boards while Anthony Wilson had 11 points and 12 boards.

Tuesday night's game against Morehead State looked like it would end up more like a Valentine's Day massacre than anything else, but became an efficient act in consistency.

Jacksonville State shot 50 percent from the floor in both halves of the game, 16-of-32 in the first half and 9-of-18 in the second.

Five Gamecocks racked up double digits, led by B.J. Spencer's 19 points. Spencer, who set a new school record for most 3-pointers in a game, was 5 for 11 from long range.

Continued...

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