BOX SCORE

JACKSONVILLE – All five starters scored in double figures for the Jacksonville State men's basketball team on Saturday afternoon, when the Gamecocks used a late-game surge to down West Alabama 93-64 in the season opener for both teams.

The Gamecocks (1-0) outscored the Tigers (0-1) 34-10 over the final 10 minutes of the game to break open what had been a close game from the opening tip. Before the late run began, neither team led by more than eight, but JSU rode a hot hand from sophomore Stephen Hall and junior Jeremy Bynum in the game's final 10 minutes to win their first season opener since 2003. The win was JSU's 69th in 98 all-time meetings with West Alabama, who was an old rival in the Gamecocks' days in the Gulf South Conference.

Hall, a native of Birmingham, Ala., scored 10 of his game-high 19 points in the game's final 10 minutes, going 3-for-6 from the floor and 3-for-3 from the charity stripe during that run. Bynum, an Oxford, Ala., product, had seven points in the same time frame, connecting on all three of his attempts from the floor. Bynum finished the game with 17 points.

Newcomers Jay-R Strowbridge and Trenton Marshall each added 17 points in their JSU debuts. Strowbridge, a Huntsville native and transfer from Nebraska, was 6-for-11 from the field, while Marshall, a Garyvill, La., native and Jones (Miss.) Junior College, hit seven of his 14 attempts from the floor for his big night.

Forward Amadou Mbodji, the Gamecocks' lone senior, was 5-for-9 from the floor for 11 points, but his top highlight came on the defensive end of the court. The Kaolack, Senegal, native blocked three shots to pass Dorien Brown as the school's career blocks leader. He ran his career total to 117, while junior college transfer Sean Thurston swatted two UWA shots to account for the remainder of JSU's five team blocks.

Thurston, a forward from Bloomington, Minn., came off of the bench to pull in a team-high nine rebounds in 25 minutes of action. Mbodji and Marshall each grabbed six boards and Hall added five to help lead JSU to a 39-35 advantage on the glass. The team's other junior college transfer, Dominique Shellman dished eight assists in 27 minutes off of the bench, while Bynum and sophomore John Barnes each added five assists.

The Tigers were led by Jason Swanson's double-double of 11 points and 11 boards, while Alquan Mendenhall and Trevell Coleman added 13 and 12 points, respectively.

JSU outshot the Tigers, making 55 percent of its shots to UWA's 37 percent clip. The Gamecocks were 11-for-13 from the free throw line, while knocking down eight of their 20 attempts from behind the arc.

The win improved JSU to 30-6 in home openers since opening Pete Mathews Coliseum. It marked the first time since 2003 that the Gamecocks have opened the season at home.


JSU will return to action on Tuesday at 7:45 p.m., when the Gamecocks host in-state foe UAB on the back end of a doubleheader with the JSU women's team. The women will face Troy at 5:15 p.m.