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JACKSONVILLE – Jacksonville State senior guard Brian Williams scored 16 points to become the 22nd player in JSU history to score over 1,000 career points but the Gamecocks still fell to Alabama State 84-73 in their 2013-14 home opener at Pete Mathews Coliseum.

Williams scored 13 first half points and connected on a 3-point shot with 7:08 to go in the second half to give him 1,001 career points. The Lawrenceville, Ga.-native also became just the fifth player in JSU's Division I history to score over 1,000 points in a career.

JSU finished the night shooting 24-of-33 (72.7 percent) from the free throw line while shooting 23-of-55 (41.8 percent) from the field to fall to 1-3 on the year. The Hornets improve to 2-2 after shooting 50 percent (24-of-50) from the field and connecting on 32-of-39 attempts from the charity stripe.

Junior Darion Rackley led all scorers with 23 points thanks to a 10-of-13 performance from the free throw line. Senior Nick Cook also finished with 16 points, 12 of which came in the second half. The Hattiesburg, Miss., native also led JSU with six rebounds on the night.

The Hornets were led by Jamel Waters with 16 points while DeMarcus Robinson added 15 points and Luther Page 11 points. Both Waters and Robinson finished a perfect 8-of-8 from the free throw line. Brandon Graham led ASU with six rebounds as the Hornets out-rebounded the Gamecocks 35-29.

Williams opened the game with a jumper to give JSU a quick 2-0 lead but the Gamecocks would not make another shot from the field until the senior guard knocked down a jumper with 12:15 to go in the half.

The Hornets opened the game shooting 8-of-10 from the floor while building a 16-point lead with 8:44 to go in the half. The Gamecocks then outscored ASU 26-12 over the final 7:56 of the half to pull within one point at 44-43. JSU managed to finish the first half shooting 12-of-23 from the field after starting the game shooting 3-of-10.

With JSU trailing 32-16 with 8:44 remaining in the half, Rackley knocked down two free throws to spark an 11-2 run to cut the lead to 34-27. The Hornets would manage to extend the lead to 11 after Page made a layup and was fouled. His free throw gave ASU a 40-29 lead before the Gamecocks would close the half on an 14-4 run to cut the deficit to 44-43.

Cook then opened up the second half with a layup in the lane to give JSU its first lead since Williams bucket with 19:28 to open the game. ASU would quickly regain the lead after two free throws before Cook responded with two free throws of his own to give JSU a 47-46 lead.

The Hornets again responded with buckets from Graham and Tony Armstrong to regain the lead at 50-47. Following a media timeout with 14:38 to go, senior Giovanni Smith stepped up and knocked down his only shot attempt of the night with a 3-pointer to tie the game back up at 50-50.

ASU then answered with a 12-4 run that was sparked by three offensive putbacks. Terrance Leflore connected on two 3-point shots during the run to help ASU claim a 68-58 lead with 9:59 to go.

Rackley would cut the deficit to 70-65 with a driving layup with 5:50 remaining. The Hornets then managed to answer the Gamecocks down the stretch while holding off JSU's comeback attempt by connecting on 9-of-12 shots from the free throw line in the game's final minutes.

The Gamecocks will travel to Auburn on Tuesday, Nov. 19 to take on the Tigers at 7 p.m. before returning home to The Pete to host Dalton State on Friday, Nov. 22 at 1 p.m.