JACKSONVILLE, Ala. – Jacksonville State shot 58.1 percent from the floor - a blistering 58.8 percent from three-point range - to defeat Eastern Kentucky 86-59 Tuesday night in the 2006 O'Reilly OVC Men's Basketball Tournament quarterfinals. With the loss, EKU completes its season at 14-16 overall.

The Colonels found themselves trailing by two points, 20-18, midway through the opening half when Jacksonville State (16-12) began to take control of the game. The host Gamecocks held Eastern without a bucket for almost five minutes to establish a 29-19 cushion. A three-pointer by Brad Peters then gave JSU its largest advantage of the first half, 32-21. Sophomore Darnell Dialls converted a tip-in with under a minute to go before the break to make the deficit just nine at the intermission, 36-27.

Eastern Kentucky was held without a three-pointer (0-for-7) in the first 20 minutes of play, but senior Alonzo Hird kept the Colonels hanging around with 10 points on 5-of-6 (83.3 percent) shooting.

A jumper by senior Matt Witt followed by a Julian Mascoll dunk helped EKU creep to within seven points, 38-31, early in the second half. However, Jacksonville State responded with the next eight points, including back-to-back three pointers by Peters and Walker Russell, to break the game open. The Gamecocks converted 75 percent (21-of-28) of their shots in the second half on their way to scoring 50 points. With the win, Jacksonville State advances to the OVC Tournament semifinals for the first time in school history.

Witt completed his EKU career with a team-high 15 points while Mascoll chipped in with 14. As a team, Eastern netted 2-of-22 (9.1 percent) three-point attempts, its lowest percentage of the season.

Russell paced the Gamecocks with a triple-double – 21 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists. Meanwhile, Courtney Bradley tallied a game-high 25 points.