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PEORIA, Ill. – The Jacksonville State men's basketball team will open the season Friday at 7 p.m., when the Gamecocks take on Bradley to open a three-game road trip.

The Gamecocks take to the road to open the 2013-14 season with a three-game trip to the state of Illinois, one that starts with a Friday evening game at Bradley in Peoria. JSU will then travel to Champaign to face Illinois on Sunday before rounding out the trip with a Tuesday game at Chicago State in the Windy City.

JSU tries to take the momentum gained from a pair of exhibition wins into the start of the season and will look to get continued production from an experienced backcourt and a newer and bigger lineup in the post. Both were good for JSU in the preseason, with junior guard Darion Rackley averaging 16.5 points in the wins over West Georgia and Martin Methodist and senior Preseason All-Ohio Valley Conference guard Brian Williams tossing in 15 points and 3.5 assists per game.

In the post, junior college transfers Jamal Hunter and D.J. Felder shared the spotlight in the two exhibition games. Hunter, a 6-foot-8 junior from East Mississippi Community College made a splash in his debut by grabbing 10 boards and scoring 10 points for a double-double. With Hunter in early foul trouble against Martin Methodist, Felder, a 6-foot-7 junior from East Georgia College picked up his slack. He pulled down 19 rebounds to go along with 13 points in his double-double to pace a group of three players in double figures.

Friday will mark the Gamecocks' first meeting with the Braves on the hardwood and just their third game against a team from the Missouri Valley Conference. Bradley also won a pair of exhibition games, defeating Upper Iowa and West Virginia Wesleyan.

Senior guard Walt Lemon, Jr., led the Braves with an average of 21.7 points per game in the preseason. He is the active career leader in points scored in the MVC and is on the Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Award Watch List.

All three games on the trip will be broadcast live on the JSU Sports Network and will all be available to watch online. Friday's opener at Bradley will be streamed at www.bradleybraves.com for as little as $4.95 for a 24-hour all-access pass. Sunday's game vs. the Illini will be available on ESPN3 and on the WatchESPN app, and the CSU game on Tuesday will be streamed online at www.gocsucougars.com. The Illinois and Chicago State games are free to watch.