Box Score

JACKSONVILLE – Nick Cook notched his first career double-double and was one of two Gamecocks with 18 points on Monday, when the Jacksonville State men's basketball team grabbed an 81-75 win over Reinhardt to head into this week's Christmas break.

The sophomore from Hattiesburg, Miss., put in his career-high 18 points on a 7-for-11 shooting night that also saw him grab a game-high 10 boards. He was joined by fellow sophomore Brian Williams, who connected on seven of his 12 shots from the floor to account for his 18 points. The Gamecocks (4-8) had one other player in double figures against the Eagles (7-7), as junior Ronnie Boggs added a career-high 11.

JSU, who had struggled to put together runs of more than 10 points in recent games used a pair of them to create separation at opportune times and pull off the win. After not having a double-digit run in their last seven games, the Gamecocks used a 13-point spurt in the first half to turn a tie game into their largest lead of the night and then used a 10-0 second-half run that broke a 56-56 tie and gave them the lead for good.

The win was a much-needed one for a JSU program that had lost two in a row and was looking for momentum going into the Christmas holiday. It had lost the last five seasons in the final game before the break, a time where classes have been over for well over a week.

Cook scored 10 of his 18 in the second half and grabbed five boards in each frame, while Williams' night was front-heavy. The Lawrenceville, Ga., native had 12 of his points by the 4:30 mark of the first half. Cook's double-double was just the second by a Gamecock this season.

Boggs, a native of Kansas City, Mo., was 3-for-4 from the floor and converted on all but one of his six free throws to account for all of his first double-digit scoring night in the second half. He also pitched in five rebounds, all in the second half, after not attempting a shot or grabbing a board in seven first-half rebounds. Sophomore Frankie Bougher scored nine points for the second-straight game, and the Memphis, Tenn., native got all of his in the first 20 minutes of the game.

Reinhardt got 22 points from Ishmael John to lead four players in double figures, a group that featured 10 points and eight boards by Matt Porter. They led JSU in rebounding at the half but ended up in an even 39-39 battle on the glass when the final horn sounded.

JSU used a 50 percent shooting effort in the second half to finish the night with a .482 shooting percentage, while the Eagles shot .409. The Gamecocks did get to the free throw line 34 times, the most since shooting 40 in the season opener, but connected on just 23, also the most since the opening win over Miles College. The .676 percentage was aided by a 9-for-12 second half from the stripe.

JSU will now take off for Christmas before hitting the road on Dec. 26 for an eight-day road trip that will see the Gamecocks play four games in six days. The trip will begin on Dec. 28 against Arkansas Pine Bluff in UTEP's Don Haskins Bank of the West Sun Bowl Invitational in El Paso, Texas. They will then face either the host Miners or Colorado State on Dec. 29 before traveling to Edwardsville, Ill., for a Dec. 31 Ohio Valley Conference matchup with conference newbie SIU-Edwardsville. The trip will conclude at Southeast Missouri in Cape Girardeau, Mo., on Jan. 2. All of the games will be broadcast live on the Gamecock Sports Network with Mike Parris calling the action.