Chance Franklin hit a three-pointer with 47 seconds left and three free throws in the final 15 seconds to lead Jackson State to an 81-77 overtime victory over Sam Houston in the first round of the CollegeInsider.Com Tournament Monday night in Huntsville.
Paris Collins and Franklin led the Tigers with 25 and 24 points respectively. The runner-up in last Saturday's SWAC Tournament championship game, Jackson State ups its record to 20-15 with the win.
Sam Houston trailed by 17 points, 48-31 at half, but outscored the Tigers 40-23 in the second period. A lay-up by Jamal Williams with 27 seconds remaining forced overtime.
Williams led the Bearkats in scoring with 20 points. Aurimas Majauskas added 18 for Sam Houston. The Kats end the season 18-16.
Yettra Specks and Raeford Middleton each added 11 points for the Tigers. Jalin Barnes and Josh Delaney scored 10 apiece for Sam Houston.
“It's disappointing the way we played tonight. I thought we came out really flat,” Sam Houston head coach Jason Hooten said. “There are no excuses. I appreciate the opportunity that Coach Williams gave us to host a game and we didn't do our part. It's been one thing after another. Dakarai Henderson couldn't walk and we took him to get an MRI this morning and he has a fractured leg. He's been trying to play through it. We just weren't ready tonight and our first half was probably one of our worst first halves this year.”
Sam Houston held early four-point leads in the opening period and the game was tied 24-24 with 8:24 left in the half. The Tigers hit a string of three-pointers to pull ahead, building a 17-point lead at intermission after finishing the period on a 24-7 run.
The Bearkats fought back, cutting the margin to nine points, 69-60, with 4:36 remaining in regulation. Sam Houston outscored JSU 11-2 in the final three-and-a-half minutes.
Josh Delaney hit a three-pointer with 1:13 remaining in overtime to give the Kats a 77-75 lead. The Tigers finished the contest with a 6-0 run to earn the right to advance in the CIT.
“You have to go with statistics playing a team you don't know a lot about," Hooten said. "Statistically, they were right at 30 percent as a team from three-point range. They came out in the first half and their No. 5, Collins, made four of them. He came into tonight as a 20 percent shooter from that distance. We couldn't get defensive stops tonight.”
Collins ended the night with five three-pointers. JSU hit 14-of-31 from beyond the arc for 43.5 percent shooting.
“In the second half, we jwere able to get stops and turned them into some runs. We have some work to do," Hooten said. "I know everyone says what a good year we have because we went through but we have a few things on the court we have to get fixed. We have to get a few guys better. I am very proud of our effort in the second half and overall effort for the year.”
