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JACKSONVILLE, Ala. -
Nino Johnson was called for goaltending and Brian Williams was given the decisive basket with 9.2 seconds left, as Jacksonville State (16-10, 8-7) pulled off a 67-65 come-from-behind win over Southeast Missouri (14-14, 6-8) Wednesday night at Pete Mathews Coliseum.
JSU, which trailed by 11 points (33-22) late in the first half, came back to take a 55-53 lead when Darion Rackley knocked down a three-pointer with 6:22 left to play. Rackley's three gave the Gamecocks their first lead since the 17:48 mark of the first half.
Rackley's two free throws later extended JSU's lead to 65-57 with 3:20 remaining before Southeast outscored the Gamecocks, 8-2, the rest of the way.
Moments after
Marland Smith sunk two free throws to make it a three-point game,
Nick Niemczyk tied things up at 65-65 when he drained a three-pointer with 41 seconds on the clock.
After a timeout, Williams drove the lane to his left and put up a layup. Johnson swatted the ball away, but was whistled for interfering with the shot. The play resulted in the Gamecocks taking their final lead.
Lucas Nutt dribbled the ball to the baseline underneath Southeast's basket and passed to Smith during the Redhawks last possession. Smith then threw up a desperation three-pointer from the right wing that missed as the buzzer sounded.
"We played hard and spent everything we had," said Southeast head coach
Dickey Nutt. "We came very close to getting this one tonight."
It was a tale of two halves, as the Redhawks led at halftime for the fifth consecutive game.
Southeast started things off by shooting 53.8 percent (7-of-13) from three-point range, as Smith (3) and
Corey Wilford (4) accounted for all those trifectas. The Redhawks led by double-digits twice when Smith dialed up a three on each of those occasions.
Despite the 36-28 lead at intermission, Southeast was outscored, 39-29, in the second period. It didn't help matters either when JSU shot 12 more free throws (13-of-22 to Southeast's 7-of-10) and held a +7 margin (18-11) on the offensive glass.
Tarvin Gaines (23 points, 10 rebounds) and Ronnie Boggs (14 points, 12 rebounds) each finished with a double-double to lead JSU. Rackley and Williams followed with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Smith led Southeast with 16 points, shooting 4-of-7 from the field and a perfect 4-of-4 at the free throw line. Wilford added 15 points, as the Redhawks made 10 threes on the night. Southeast buried a combined 37 three-pointers in its last three contests.
Johnson earned his team-high eighth double-double this season with 11 points and 12 rebounds. He also had one block and needs three more to break the school's all-time single season record.
Tyler Stone rounded out Southeast's double-digit scorers with 12 points and seven boards.
Southeast returns to Cape Girardeau to host Ball State in the ESPN Ramada Worldwide BracketBusters on Feb. 23. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m., CT, at the Show Me Center. Smith, Niemczyk and Wilford will be honored as part of the senior night festivities prior to the Redhawks final home game of the season.