CHARLESTON REBOUNDS FROM UPSET, DEFEATS JACKSON FOR THIRD 69-61

After Advance upset top-seeded Charleston on Wednesday, the third-seeded Jackson Indians may have hoped to catch the Blue Jays while they were down.

It was not to be, however, and Charleston outperformed Jackson in the fourth quarter to win 69-61 and claim third place in the University High Christmas Tournament Thursday night at the Show Me Center.

The Blue Jays (8-4), who led by nine points, 36-27, at halftime, saw Jackson cut the lead to a point by the end of the third quarter. Charleston led 39-38 at the start of the fourth quarter.

The final eight minutes proved to be the Indians' downfall, as Charleston used a full-court press to create turnovers and went on a 10-4 run early on that Jackson (5-5) couldn't overcome.

"They couldn't do what they wanted to with our full-court press," said Charleston coach Danny Farmer. "We played a lot better both offensively and defensively tonight than we did against Advance."

Leading the way offensively for Charleston was Terrance Gillespie, who scored 26 points, including four 3-pointers. Lezcano Dean who also sank four 3-pointers recorded 17 points, while standout guard Howard Biles helped out by netting 14.

"I think their quickness bothered us," said Jackson coach Steve Burk. "We didn't execute as well as we needed to, and as a result we made some mistakes."

The Blue Jays connected on six of their 12 attempts to end the first quarter with a 16-14 lead.

Jackson's Tory Meyr, who matched Gillespie's 26 points, tied the game at 23-23 at the midway point of the period.

Meyr connected on four 3-point shots and kept his team close throughout the contest by making clutch shots from difficult angles. Center John Oehl helped out by knocking down 14 points for the Indians.

"They played well tonight and took Biles away from us, just like Advance had done yesterday," said Farmer. "Meyr played especially well for them. He kept them in the game."

Charleston answered Meyr's basket with an 8-0 run as it moved ahead for good. Dean and Gillespie hit 3-point shots on consecutive trips down the court during the spurt and the Blues Jays took a 36-27 lead into halftime.

The Blue Jays came out ice cold offensively in the second half and could only manage just a 3-pointer by Gillespie in the entire third quarter. Charleston was one of 14 from the field in the period.

Jackson, which hit on four of 10 shots from the field during the same span, closed the gap to 39-38 by the close of the quarter.

"I don't know what happened to us in the third," said Farmer, "but we had a sensational fourth."

The Blue Jays' then used defense and rebounding to pull away from the Indians down the stretch. The combination staked Charleston to a 60-49 lead by the 3:42 mark of the fourth quarter.

"They hurt us on the boards," said Burk. "We have to make fewer mistakes to give ourselves an opportunity to win. You win and lose as a team and we just didn't play well tonight."

Meyr who recorded 11 of his points in the final eight minutes.