Jacksonville St. edges Tennessee Tech 73-70 in OVC tourney

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Jacksonville State's Gregory demolishes defender

Jamall Gregory races down the court and takes off from the foul line and posterizes his defender.

Mar 2, 2018, 03:26 am

EVANSVILLE, Ind. -- Marlon Hunter and Jamall Gregory scored 18 points apiece and Malcolm Drumwright sank 1 of 2 free throws with 2 seconds left to help No. 4 seed Jacksonville State hold off fifth-seeded Tennessee Tech 73-70 on Thursday in the quarterfinals of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.

The win sends the Gamecocks (21-11) to a semifinal game against No. 1 seed Murray State (24-5) on Friday.

Hunter, Gregory and Norbertas Giga all snared six rebounds to help Jacksonville State win the battle of the boards 34-27. Giga added 15 points on 7-of-11 shooting. Drumwright scored 10 and added five rebounds and five assists.

Kajon Mack paced the Golden Eagles (19-14) with 16 points and seven assists. Curtis Phillips Jr. had 10 points with seven rebounds, while Shaq Calhoun and Mason Ramsey scored 12 and 11, respectively.

Tennessee Tech shot just 28 percent from the floor in the first half, but trailed only 30-28 at intermission thanks to 12-of-15 shooting at the free-throw line. Giga's layup with 8:38 remaining in the game pushed Jacksonville State's lead to 58-48 and Drumwright's basket put the Gamecocks up 68-57 with 1:54 left. But Ramsey had a 3-point play, Aleksa Jugovic buried a jumper and Phillips sank a 3 to get the Golden Eagles within 69-65 with 28 seconds to go. Giga answered with a dunk to keep it a two-possession game and preserve the win.