SALISBURY, Md. – Despite another solid outing from senior Christian Jackson, Frostburg State suffered a 68-64 overtime setback to in-state rival Salisbury in a Capital Athletic Conference showdown, Saturday.
The Bobcats (3-6, 1-1) got into trouble early in the opening half, falling behind by 16 points midway through, but rebounded for a one-point cushion at halftime, 29-28. After falling behind by 16, FSU closed out the half on a 24-7 run.
The second half was much different as neither team led by more than four points and featured seven ties and five lead changes.
Jackson and fellow senior DeSean Antoine hit a layup and a three-pointer, respectively, with around five minutes gone in the second half as Frostburg grabbed a three-point lead, 43-40. As time ran off the clock in the second, the defenses began to clamp down and scoring became harder for both squads.
The Bobcats held the lead six times inside the final 10 minutes of action, including a 58-56 edge with 41 seconds left. After SU tied the game at 56-56 with 1:17 to play, senior Kwambina Coker hit a layup with 41 seconds showing as the visitors emerged with the two-point cushion.
Salisbury (8-1, 1-0) had several chances to tie the game before the final horn and Troy King grabbed an offensive board in the closing seconds and made the putback as time expired to knot the game at 58-58.
In overtime, Salisbury jumped out to a 63-58 lead at 2:55, but Antoine hit a jumper with 30 seconds left that brought the contest to 64-62. Following two Sea Gull free throws, Bobcat sophomore Larry Ennels, II, hit a jumper that again brought the deficit to within two, 66-64. Salisbury again hit two free throws and ran out the clock for the win.
Jackson, the CAC's leading scorer, dropped a game-high 35 points on 14-of-28 (50.0%) shooting. He also added seven rebounds, two assists and two steals. It is Jackson's second 30-plus point outing in the last three games after scoring 37 points in a loss at No. 1 Virginia Wesleyan last Sunday. Antoine finished with 15 points with a team best three 3-PTs.
The matchup with Salisbury was originally supposed to showcase Jackson and SU senior Travon Vann. The tandem are currently the top two scorers in the CAC, Jackson (26.4) and Vann (24.3), and the game also figured to be an early season preview for the top two contenders for the CAC Player of the Year honor.
However, Vann didn't play, leaving the Salisbury scoring load to a host of players. The Sea Gulls had four players in double figures, including three starters. Elijah Gore scored 22 points along with eight rebounds, while Tim Harwood added 20 points and six boards.
Frostburg travels to Bethany (W.Va.) for a non-conference tilt on Tuesday at 7:00 pm.