O'FALLON, Ill. • Just when it looked like O'Fallon was headed for a blowout loss on its home court, Michael Jackson provided a reminder of why the Panthers have become a perennial power in the Southwestern Conference.
Jackson scored a career-high 29 points Friday as O'Fallon rallied from a 12-point second-quarter deficit to beat Alton 77-72. The Panthers improved to 16-4 overall and 5-3 in the SWC.
"It was a thriller night," Alton coach Will Gordon said. "Every time they needed a bucket, Michael Jackson got it. He did what he had to do and I thought my kids did what they did to had to do to try to hang with it, but we ran out of gas."
Jackson, a 6-foot-5 senior, got plenty of help from teammates Roy Bullock (19 points) and Elijah Kinmon (14). But he was the catalyst for the Panthers' offense, scoring 12 points in the first half and 17 in the second half.
"I was feeling it, I guess," Jackson said with a smile. "Last year, I didn't take many jump shots, but this year, I'm shooting a lot more and helping my team."
O'Fallon's rally left Alton (6-14, 0-8) still searching for its first conference win.
"We played well, but we made some mistakes," Gordon said. "We had some possessions when we were up where we could have shown a little bit more patience."
A 3-point play by Jackson gave O'Fallon a 19-12 lead with 1:47 remaining in the first quarter. But Alton answered with a 19-0 run, going ahead 31-19 on a trey by Tyrome Parker with 4:24 to play in the second quarter.
"It wasn't like we were making a lot of turnovers and giving them points," Gibson said. "They were just shooting the ball so well."
O'Fallon got within 31-28 at halftime on a layup by Kinmon.
"It was huge getting back within three at halftime," O'Fallon coach Rick Gibson said. "I had to call back-to-back timeouts and we were on the verge of it getting ugly, but to our kids' credit, they didn't roll over. They showed some heart tonight by fighting back after getting in a big hole like that ."
The Panthers went up 38-37 on a jumper by Darius Mosely midway through the third quarter, but a 3-pointer by Jon Golley gave Alton a 45-40 lead with 2:08 left in the quarter.
Once again, O'Fallon came back, taking its biggest lead, 62-51, with 4:18 remaining in the fourth quarter. A trey by JaQuail Townser brought Alton within 67-65 with 1:53 to play, but a free throw by Jackson made the score 73-66 with 45 seconds left.
"He's playing so well right now," Gibson said of Jackson. "We thought he was going to have a really good year, but he's going beyond expectations."
Townser led Alton with 19 points, while Parker and A'basa Brown added 16 points apiece.
"I'm proud of our effort, but I learned as a girls coach under (Edwardsville's) Lori Blade that there are no moral victories," Gordon said. "A coach is going to be judged on their overall record and the number of championships they've got, and I've got a month until we've got to play for one."
