Box Score

JACKSONVILLE – The Jacksonville State men's basketball team used a late run to put away Presbyterian and grab a 67-48 win in the Sears BracketBusters weekend at Pete Mathews Coliseum on Saturday.

After the Blue Hose (12-15) cut what was once a 14-point Gamecocks (12-15) lead to three with less than eight minutes to play, JSU rattled off an 18-0 run to cruise away with its six win in the last nine games.

Junior Tarvin Gaines notched his second-career double-double to lead a JSU lineup that saw all eight players that saw action score at least two points. The West Memphis, Ark., native scored 12 points and pulled in 11 boards, also pacing the Gamecocks to a 29-27 advantage on the glass.

Sophomore Brian Williams used a 7-for-13 night from the floor and a 3-for-6 effort from behind the 3-point line to lead all scorers with 20 points. It was the third 20-point night of the year for the native of Lawrenceville, Ga., and his 13th double-digit output in the past 14 games.

Freshman Darion Rackley rounded out a trio of JSU players that scored in double figures and used an explosive second half to do so. With just three points under his name with 10:14 to play in the game, the St. Louis native scored 14 in the final 10 minutes, including the first six of the 18-0 run that put the game away. He was 5-for-7 from the field and 5-for-5 from the charity stripe for his seventh double-digit output in his last 10 games.

JSU controlled the tempo for most of the game before using late PC turnovers for a 16-4 advantage in points off miscues. The Gamecocks made 13 of their 21 shots from the floor in the final 20 minutes and were 10-of-12 from the free throw line in the second half.

Al'Lonzo Coleman had 13 points and 11 boards for the Blue Hose, while Khalid Mutakabbir added 11 points in the loss. The duo combined with guard Eric Washington to commit 12 of the team's 16 total turnovers.

JSU scored the game's first basket on a Gaines jumper less than two minutes in, and after a pair of Coleman foul shots tied it at 2-2, scored the next five and never trailed from there. The Gamecocks led by as many as nine before taking a 28-21 lead into the half.

After six straight to open the second half put the Blue Hose down by 13 less than four minutes in, they started to cut into the deficit. PC used a 17-6 run to cut the Gamecocks' lead to 47-44, but Rackley answered almost single handedly.

The freshman drained a three from the right wing and was fouled, converting the four-point play to push JSU back up by seven and ignite the finishing run. The 18-0 spurt say the Blue Hose go 6:22 without a field goal, a stretch that watched JSU go 6-of-8 from the floor and 4-for-5 from the free throw line.

JSU heads into the final week of the regular season fighting for a spot in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament. In a three-way tie for sixth with Austin Peay and Eastern Kentucky, the Gamecocks finish at home against Southeast Missouri on Thursday and UT Martin on Saturday. Both games are scheduled for 7:45 p.m. tips.