Raiders drop CUSA semifinal against Jax State

Friday, March 14

Huntsville, Ala.

2 p.m.

Middle Tennessee

22-11,12-6CUSA

Jax State

22-11,12-6CUSA

Middle Tenn.

Jacksonville St.

3/14/2025 5:24:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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By: @MTAthletics

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — A gassed Middle Tennessee men's basketball team (22-11) clawed back in the second half of Friday's Conference USA semifinal game but dropped a 70-68 decision to 2-seed Jacksonville State (22-11).

Essam Mostafa won the opening tip and dropped in a free throw on the game's opening possession, but the Blue Raiders then had a scoring drought of two minutes and 31 seconds. Jlynn Counter ended the drought by tying the game at four with a 3-pointer then tallied an assist on a Chris Loofe layup to take the lead back: 6-4 at the under-16 media timeout.

Justin Bufford knocked down a triple, then Thursday's leading scorer Jestin Porter got into the action with a pair of 3-pointers of his own as the Blue Raiders started 4-for-5 from long range to lead 17-10 eight minutes into the game.

The MTSU lead was cut to one, but Porter answered with his third 3-pointer of the first half and Counter added another one to keep the Gamecocks at bay. Then it was Kamari Lands' turn to hit from deep, doing so twice in 47 seconds to make it a 30-26 lead with four minutes left in the first half.

A Loofe dunk put MTSU up two after the Gamecocks tied it back up, but Jax State was the beneficiary of a shooting foul called at the end of the first half and made two free throws to send the teams to the locker room tied at 35 apiece.

Jax State took their second lead of the game with a 3-pointer on their first possession of the second half and extended the lead to eight while holding MTSU to 0-for-7 to start the final 20 minutes. Mostafa's layup with 13:46 to play was the Blue Raiders' first made field goal of the second half.

Mostafa added a 3-pointer, his fourth of the season, and a layup to keep the Blue Raiders within striking distance late in the second half. MTSU inched closer in the final minutes, tying the game at 68 with a Counter layup with 1:18 on the clock.

The Gamecocks closed out the game with two free throws and stopped the MTSU offense on the last possession.

Head Coach Nick McDevitt:
"First off, congratulations to Coach Harper and his group on getting to the finals and to Coach McKay and his group at Liberty. I was really proud of our team and our fight down the stretch. We're down 11 with 12 to go, down 10 fairly late and tied it and had a chance to win it. We just didn't make enough plays down the stretch to win it against a really good team. Everybody remembers the plays down the stretch, in the final minute or two, but it was really the start of the second half that hurt us."

Graduate student forward Essam Mostafa:
"It's been fun. I'll say this is the best year I've had in college. I love the guys, I love the coaches. Every day was fun to go to practice. Being in college for five years, this is the first time I've enjoyed going to practice every day. Seeing the guys, seeing the coaches, the people on the sideline, Logan right there, it's fun. It's hard because when you love somebody this much, you want to do your best to get what they want. We wanted to be in the NCAA Tournament, a little short, but I just love this team. It's a good way to end it. It's fun to be part of this team. It's everything I asked for."

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