PENSACOLA, Fla. – Touting a No. 5 national ranking during the annual Pensacola State Thanksgiving Classic, Jones College played three very hard fought games but finished 1-2 during the week.

Jones drops to 8-2 with a pair of Top 20 losses to No. 8 Gulf Coast State and No. 16 Chipola. The Cats edged Tallahassee State, 78-75. 

Jones returns to action on Tuesday, Dec. 2 at Lawson State, with head coach Newton Mealer chasing his 100th career win.

Gulf Coast State 74, Jones 70

The Bobcats rallied from a 15-point second half deficit and led 70-67 with a minute left before the Commodores scored the final seven points of the game.

A GCSC three-pointer from the wing tied the game at 70-70.

Jay Tyler's deep three-pointer at the end of the shot clock was no good on the other end of the floor before Trent Lincoln's driving layup and foul with 2.8 seconds left put State up, 72-70.

Lincoln's ensuing free throw was no good and Wesley Lindsey rebounded and called timeout to give Jones a shot to tie and force overtime or win the game. But on the inbounds play for Jones, traveling was called on Dylan Rowe when he left his spot since there wasn't a made basket before the timeout.

GCSC hit two free throws to then ice the game and hand the Bobcats their first loss.

Braylon Barnes had a game-high 25 points and seven boards. Tyler added 16 and Rowe 15.

Jones 78, Tallahassee State 75

Jones was held without a field goal the final 4:13 but managed to hold off the Eagles to hand them their first loss of the year.

Bob Dickson's layup made it 71-67 and Jones would hit seven free throws to eventually win it.

A put-back layup from the Eagles got them within 76-75 with 1.8 ticks left, but Lindsey hit two free throws to push the final out to three.

All five Bobcat starters scored in double figures, led by Tyler's near triple-double with 19 points, eight assists and seven steals. Barnes had 17 and eight, Rowe and Lindsey 16 apiece and Dickson 10 and seven.

Chipola 71, Jones 69

In a game that featured eight ties and seven lead changes, it was Tyler's buzzer-beating three that missed back iron to end another tightly-contested finish.

Chipola ended the first half on a 16-6 spurt to take a 40-28 lead into the half.

Trailing 67-59 with four minutes left, Jones clawed back to 71-69 on Dickson's slam with 3.8 seconds left and then forced a jump ball on the Indians' frontcourt to get it back with a shot to win it.

The inbounds play was drawn up for Tyler and a game-winning three, but his off balance attempt was just long as Chipola survived.

Chipola won the game at the free throw line, hitting 24 of 33 attempts against just 11 of 15 attempts for Jones. The Indians also had a 48-33 edge on the glass.