Jacksonville State didn't earn a spot in the ASUN Men's Basketball Tournament. The Gamecocks did put an exclamation point onto a difficult season with a 92-83 ASUN over rival UNA on the road at CB&S Bank Arena at Flowers Hall.
UNA (18-13 overall, 10-8 conference) entered the week trying to secure a first-round home game in the ASUN Tournament. Back-to-back losses put an end to that quest. The Lions will be the No. 6 seed and play at Eastern Kentucky on Tuesday night. The teams met at Eastern Kentucky last Saturday, with UNA winning 98-93 in overtime.
Jacksonville State (13-18 overall, 6-12 conference) pulled off the upset behind the play of Demaree King, who became the program's all-time leader in 3-pointers. King entered the night needing five 3-pointers to tie Jeremy Bynum's school record of 224. King put himself in position to chase the record by hitting a school single-game record 10 3-pointers on Wednesday night.
King hit four 3-pointers in the first half and tied the record early in the second half. The record 3-pointer came with Jacksonville State clinging to a 63-60 with about nine minutes left. He not only hit the 3-pointer but drew the foul, and his four-point play got the Gamecocks going once again. King finished with seven 3-pointers and 29 points. He also added three assists and two steals.
Marcellus Brigham also had a big game with 25 points and four rebounds, and Skylear Potter had 16 points and eight rebounds.
UNA was forced to play once again with junior guard KJ Johnson, who has an ankle injury. Jacari Lane had 26 points and eight assists, and Daniel Ortiz had 24 points with five 3-pointers. UNA made 10 of 11 free throws, while Jacksonville State hit 30 of 35 free throws. The Lions had three starters foul out.
Troy 95, Coastal Carolina 74: The Trojans' (19-12 overall, 11-7 conference) emphatic ending to Sun Belt Conference regular season plays gives them the No. 5 seed in the SBC Tournament. Troy, winners of five of its last six games, also won the most home games in a season – 11 – since 1999-00.
Christyon Eugene had 19 points and five 3-pointers, while seniors Nelson Phillips (16 points), Darius McNeil (14 points) and Zay Williams (13 points) all had productive days in their final home game.
Troy will play the winner of Coastal Carolina (11-19 overall, 5-13 conference) and Arkansas State on Thursday at the SBC Tournament in Pensacola.
Louisiana 74, South Alabama 64: The Jaguars had their five-game winning streak snapped with the loss to a Louisiana team that finishes tied for second place in the SBC with Marshall. South Alabama (16-15 overall, 9-9 conference) entered the game with eight wins in its last nine games.
South Alabama led 29-28 at halftime but couldn't keep up with Louisiana (23-7 overall, 13-5 conference) in the second half. Louisiana's 6-foot-11, 225-pound Jordan Brown was sensational. He had 28 points on 13 of 15 shooting from the field, with 11 rebounds, two blocks, an assist and a steal. The only thing he didn't do well was shoot free throws. Brown was 2 of 11 at the line.
Isaiah Moore had 22 points, three assists and three steals for South Alabama. Owen White had 15 points with three 3-pointers.
South Alabama, the No 8 seed, will play ninth-seed Appalachian State in the SBC Tournament on Thursday.
