Southeast rally falls just short

The Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team failed to build on its first Ohio Valley Conference road win of the season.

Southeast, coming off Saturday's 22-point romp at Tennessee-Martin, wiped out a late eight-point deficit to tie Jacksonville State Wednesday night.

But the Gamecocks scored the winning basket on a goaltending call with nine seconds left to squeeze out a 67-65 victory in Jacksonville, Ala.

Southeast (14-14, 6-8), which had a three-game winning streak snapped, remained second in the OVC West Division and sixth in the 12-team league overall among squads eligible for the eight-team conference tournament.

JSU (16-10, 8-7), which ended its three-game losing streak on its senior night, had already clinched its first winning record since 2005-06. But the Gamecocks are ineligible for the OVC tournament because of NCAA Academic Progress Rate penalties.

Despite the defeat, Southeast coach Dickey Nutt had no complaints with the Redhawks' effort and few complaints with their overall performance.

"I was really proud of our guys. I'm not disgusted at all," Nutt said. "That's a disappointed locker room. Our guys gave everything they had. They played hard. I thought our effort was at the max.

"I give them [JSU] credit. They've got a good team. It was a tough game for us but I thought we played well. This is no time of the year to duck our heads. We've got to keep our heads up. We're playing good."

Southeast led most of the game, its largest advantage being 11 points in the first half, but a late JSU surge put the Redhawks in a 65-57 hole with just over three minutes remaining.

Senior guard Marland Smith hit a 3-pointer and, after a JSU turnover, knocked down two free throws. The squads exchanged failed possessions before senior guard Nick Niemczyk buried a tying 3-pointer with 41 seconds left.

The Gamecocks ran most of the shot clock down before junior guard Brian Williams got to the basket and put up a shot that was blocked by sophomore forward Nino Johnson. The officials immediately ruled goaltending.

"It was a questionable call. It's 50-50. ... you hate to see it called," Nutt said. "It was disappointing they called that one. I would tell Nino to do it again."

Smith's 3-pointer that would have won the game was well off the mark at the buzzer.

"I thought we executed really good the last possession. We got the perfect look. We would do that again," Nutt said.

Smith continued his late-season surge with a team-high 16 points. He hit 4 of 6 3-pointers, giving him 18 baskets from beyond the arc in the last three games.

Senior guard Corey Wilford scored 15 points. He tied his career high with five 3-pointers, in eight attempts.

Johnson had a strong performance with 11 points and 12 rebounds for his team-leading eighth double-double of the season.

Junior forward Tyler Stone added 12 points.

Junior point guard Lucas Nutt recorded nine assists, one off his season high.

"I thought Nino was really good and I thought Lucas played outstanding," Dickey Nutt said.

Senior forward Tarvin Gaines, JSU's top scorer at 16 points per contest, pumped in a game-high 23 points.

JSU also got a lift from sophomore guard Darion Rackley's return.

Rackley, the Gamecocks' No. 2 scorer with a 14-point average, had missed the previous nine games with what was described as a season-ending hand injury.

But Rackley played Wednesday. He hit a big 3-pointer in the late going and finished with 11 points, all in the second half.

Southeast shot 43.6 percent from the field and made 10 of 13 3-pointers (43.5 percent). JSU shot 36.9 percent and hit 6 of 22 from beyond the arc (27.3 percent).

"We shot the ball well. We played good defense. We did a lot of good things," Nutt said.

But Southeast was hurt by turnovers and rebounding, although the squads finished tied 39-39 on the boards.

The Redhawks committed 14 turnovers compared to five for JSU as the Gamecocks had a 14-3 advantage in points off turnovers.

JSU grabbed 18 offensive rebounds compared to 11 for Southeast. That led to a 22-12 edge for the Gamecocks in second-chance points.

"Some costly turnovers in the second half and rebounding wasn't as good as it needed to be although we tied them on the boards," Nutt said. "Offensive rebounding has been our sore spot all year."

Nutt also didn't like the fact that JSU attempted 12 more free throws than Southeast. The Gamecocks were 13 of 22 from the charity stripe compared to 7 of 10 for the Redhawks.

Southeast fell behind 7-2 early and it was 11-11 before the Redhawks used a 5-0 run to go ahead 16-11.

The Redhawks led 33-22 late in the opening period and carried a 36-28 advantage into the break. Their biggest second-half margin was 49-40.

JSU took its first lead since early in the game on Rackley's 3-pointer that made it 55-53 with just over six minutes left.

Southeast, after falling behind 65-57, forged the 65-65 tie before the late goaltending call.

"We had the game, we just couldn't finish it," Nutt said.

Southeast has a break from OVC play for its final home game, Saturday's 5:30 p.m. Senior Night BracketBuster matchup with Ball State. Niemczyk, Smith and Wilford will be honored prior to tipoff.