BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Jackson State led most of the way but could not seal the deal in falling to No. 2 Texas Southern 54-50 Wednesday in the quarterfinal round of the Cricket SWAC Tournament.
Jayveous McKinnis posted his fifth consecutive double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds, and Ken Evans Jr. added 10 points as No. 7 Jackson State nearly pulled the first-round upset.
“I thought our guys came in and followed the game plan our coaches had for them,” said Wayne Brent in his final game as Jackson State head coach. “We wanted to control the tempo, and they did a heck of a job of that. We went into the half up 33-28. Once we got to the last four or five minutes, we wanted it to be a one or two-point game. We thought it was anybody’s ball game in the last four minutes.”
There were 11 lead changes and two ties in the first half. Jackson State shot 58.3 percent from the field in the first half (14-24), while holding Texas Southern to 11-31 shooting (35.5%) in the first 20 minutes.
Jackson State took its largest lead of the first half at 31-23 with 1:45 to play in the first half on a jumper by Jarmarcus Jones. JSU lead 31-28 at halftime.
In the second half, JSU maintained its lead until Texas Southern tied the score at 41-41, only the third tie of the game to that point. The contest was tied four additional times in the second half, the last at 48-48 on a putback to Terence Lewis II with 3:11 remaining.
After Texas Southern scored the games’ next four points, a McKinnis dunk brought JSU to within two at 52-50 with 1:41 remaining. However, Jackson State did not score again.
Courtesy: Jackson State Athletics
