Derek Thompson's 3-pointer with 3 seconds remaining lifted Eastern Michigan past Jacksonville State 63-60 Saturday in a BracketBuster game and first-ever meeting between the teams.
Thompson's game-winning shot , off a pass from Antonio Green, was his only basket and points of the game. Brandon Bowdry did the bulk of the work for the Eagles (8-18), scoring 28 points on 9-of-14 shooting and pulling down 13 rebounds. Green had 15 points.
Stephen Hall led the Gamecocks (5-24) with 15 points. Nick Murphy scored 11 and Brian Williams added 10 for Jacksonville State, which made 53.5 percent of its shots (23 of 43) but connected on just 1 of 7 3-pointers.
Eastern Michigan made 6 of 18 3-pointers and outrebounded the Gamecocks 36-26.
The Eagles, who led 28-22 at halftime, were up 51-42 with 6:44 remaining when the Gamecocks made a charge. Murphy's three-point play with 19 seconds remaining tied it at 60, but the Eagles had plenty of time to set up for the final shot.
