Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Jackson State tops Sam Houston in CIT

HUNTSVILLE, Texas -- 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. The victory marked their first postseason win since JSU’s 1993 upset win over UCONN in the NIT.

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.

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 Tigers are the first team from the SWAC to notch a victory in the CIT. Alabama State is the only other team to ever receive an invite in 2014.

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.

Collins ended the night with five three-pointers. JSU hit 14-of-31 from beyond the arc for 43.5 percent shooting.

Prior to Monday night, the two schools had never met. The win gave JSU 20 wins for the first time since 2007.

Arkansas-Pine Bluff's 2007 vctory over Winthrop was the last time postseason win for the SWAC.

 Box Score

COURTESY SWAC MEDIA RELATIONS

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