Feb. 19—Jacksonville State gave it a good shot Thursday night but couldn’t knock off Belmont, which is unbeaten in 17 Ohio Valley Conference men’s basketball games this year.
Playing on the road, JSU led almost the whole second half of a 63-59 loss. Belmont had worked the advantage down to 53-49 with 5:42 when the Bruins went on a 10-0 run. That put Belmont up 59-53 with 2:37 to go.
JSU trimmed the advantage to two at 61-59 when Darian Adams sank a 3-pointer with seven seconds to go but couldn’t get any closer.
Four to know
—Adams finished with 24 points for Jacksonville State. He also had a team-high eight rebounds.
—Belmont is now 23-1, including 17-0 in the Ohio Valley Conference. The Bruins’ only loss came to Samford in the pre-conference portion of their schedule. JSU (14-8, 10-6 OVC) had won four straight before Thursday night. The Gamecocks are 0-6 against the top three teams in the league: Belmont, Morehead State and Eastern Kentucky.
—Jalen Finch had nine points, three rebounds and seven assists.
—Kayne Henry scored six points, pulled down three rebounds and made three steals.
Senior Editor Mark Edwards: 256-235-3570. On Twitter: @MarkSportsStar.
