JACKSONVILLE – Senior Darion Rackley reached the 1,000-point mark for his career with a 22-point effort that lifted the Jacksonville State men's basketball team to a 79-67 win over Dartmouth on Sunday at Pete Mathews Coliseum.
 
The guard from St. Louis was 5-for-12 from the floor and 9-for-12 from the free throw line to lead four Gamecocks (6-4) in double figures and become the 23^rd member of JSU's 1,000 Points Club. He is the sixth player in the school's Division I history to reach the milestone.
 
The Gamecocks led the Big Green (3-5) for over 36 minutes of the game, one that saw only one lead change. It came less than three minutes in on a JaQuail Townser scoop-and-score that put JSU up 4-2. It would never trail again.
 
Rackley also dished six assists to tie a career high and was 3-for-6 from behind the arc en route to his 11^th career 20-point game.
 
Junior Jeremy Watson recorded his fourth double-double of the year with 19 points and 11 rebounds. The Birmingham native was 3-for-7 from the floor but took advantage of 16 trips to the free throw line, making 13 of them. He extended his streak of consecutive games with double figures in points and at least eight rebounds to seven, a stretch in which JSU is 6-1.
 
Senior D.J. Felder had a big day off of the bench for the Gamecocks, scoring 10 of his 14 points in the first half to help his team pull away and take a 13-point lead into the half. Fellow Senior Jamal Hunter added 11 points and eight rebounds in the win.
 
Townser dished six assists and grabbed a pair of steals.
 
The Big Green got a double-double of 27 points and 10 boards from Gabas Maldunas, who went 11-for-15 from the floor. He scored 19 in the second half.
 
After Townser's early breakaway gave JSU the lead for good, the Gamecocks went to work on the offensive end. They went on a 9-2 run shortly after to build an 8-point advantage and then answered a small run from Dartmouth with five straight to open their first double-digit lead of the night.
 
In the second half, Dartmouth cut the deficit to eight a couple of times but couldn't get closer than eight until a Maldunas free throw with 6:41 to play cut JSU's lead to 56-49.
 
The Big Green got to within four on a Connor Boehm layup with 4:27 remaining, only to watch JSU score six-straight on a Watson jumper and two free throws that were followed by a Felder jumper to stretch the lead back to double digits.
 
The Gamecocks will wrap up its pre-Christmas home schedule on Tuesday, when they welcome UNC Asheville to Pete Mathews Coliseum for a 7 p.m. tipoff. Admission is free for JSU students and all fans ages 18 and under.