FINAL STATS

COLUMBIA, S.C. – A shorthanded Jacksonville State men's basketball team wouldn't quit in its final game of the 2010 calendar year but fell 56-49 at South Carolina at Colonial Life Arena.

With leading scorer and rebounder Nick Murphy and junior Latiq Agard stranded in the New York snow after a trip home for Christmas, JSU (2-12) got 13 points from Stephen Hall and 12 from Jeremy Bynum, but it wouldn't be enough. In a battle of the only two Gamecocks in the country, USC (8-3) was able to hold off a late JSU run to hend Jacksonville State its eighth-straight loss.

South Carolina used a 15-point night from Ramon Galloway and a 13-5 run early in the second half to create enough separation to hold off JSU. The Gamecocks mounted a late run to cut the game to within single digits but ran out of time in the loss.

Hall, a 6-foot-6 junior from Birmingham, Ala., was 6-for-13 from the floor and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds to lead JSU in Murphy's absence, while Bynum, a senior from Oxford, Ala., scored all 12 of his points in the first half. He was 0-for-5 in the game's final 20 minutes.

JSU also got some production from other areas on the night, including a career-high nine points from freshman Frankie Bougher. The Memphis, Tenn., native was 3-for-4 from the floor in just his fourth game on the floor for the Gamecocks. Junior B.J. Miller also pitched in nine for Jax State, thanks to a 3-for-5 night from behind the arc. Senior Sean Thurston didn't score, but the senior from Bloomington, Minn., did pull down seven rebounds.

South Carolina got a sloppy 11 points and 11 boards from Sam Muldrow to help in its effort. The 6-foot-9, 230 pound center shot just 4-for-13 from the floor but used his size advantage against a JSU team that had just one player taller than 6-foot-6 see the floor.

JSU held South Carolina's leading scorer, Bruce Ellington, to seven points and forced the point guard into four turnovers to just three assists. Freshman Brian Williams led JSU with three assists and had no turnovers.

Three runs told the story of the first half and two of those runs belonged to USC. The homestanding Gamecocks used an early spurt to build the first of two 10-point leads of the first 20 minutes. They opened a 21-11 advantage at the halfway point of the half but watched JSU use an 11-1 run to tie the game at 22-22 with just under five minutes on the clock.

USC scored 12 of the final 14 points of the half to reclaim a 10-point lead, a 34-24 advantage it would take into the halftime locker room. Jeremy Bynum led all players in the first half with 12 points, thanks to a 5-for-8 effort from the floor. Hall added seven for JSU, while Galloway's 4-for-7 half from behind the arc gave him a USC-best 12 points.

Jax State started the second half in a cold spell, making just two field goals over the first 10 and a half minutes of the half to allow USC to build a 47-29 lead, one they wouldn't relinquish.

JSU did give the home team a scare, using a 13-2 run to cut what was a 49-31 USC lead with 7:02 to play to a 51-44 deficit with just under three minutes on the clock. A Bruce Ellington trey stretched the lead back to 10 with 1:59 to play, too much for JSU to overcome.

The Gamecocks will be back in action on Jan. 6, when they get back into the OVC schedule at Eastern Kentucky in Richmond, Ky. The game will tip at 6:30 p.m. CT and will be broadcast live on the JSU Radio Network.