Motlow State sophomore Jaylen Barford(Photo by Jeff Reed Photography)
Jaylen Barford calmly sank a pair of free throws with 1.6 seconds showing on the clock and the No. 2 seed Motlow Bucks narrowly avoided the upset by No. 7 seed Jackson State 77-75 Tuesday night at the TCCAA/Region VII Tournament in Gallatin.
The Bucks (24-6) will now face Columbia State in the semifinals at 4 p.m. on Thursday. The Chargers, who are the two-time defending league champions, knocked off Cleveland State to advance to the semifinals. Southwest Tennessee and Chattanooga State will play in the other men’s semifinal game at 2 p.m. Thursday.
Motlow held a seemingly comfortable 49-34 lead at halftime against the Generals, who the Bucks had beaten by 35 points at Copperweld Arena just 10 days ago. Jackson State, despite having only seven available players on the roster, mounted an impressive comeback and took the lead multiple times in the final minutes.
The Generals shot the ball well, connecting on 54 percent from the field including 9-23 three-pointers. The Bucks shot 46 percent from the field and made 8-20 from behind the arc. Motlow uncharacteristically had more turnovers than assists, 13-10, and narrowly won the rebounding battle 33-27.
Barford, who was named the TCCAA Player of the Year before the game, led all scorers with 27 points and added five rebounds, three assists and two steals. Jared Pearson scored 15 with seven rebounds, JaQualis Matlock added 11 points and seven rebounds, Alex Magnuson had 11 points, and Stephaun Adams scored 10 points with four rebounds and two assists.
Marcus Lytle, a first team all-conference player, led Jackson State with 25 points.
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