NASHVILLE – It was a pair of scoring runs in the second half and a 23-7 run by Tennessee State proved to be the difference as Jacksonville State's struggles in the Gentry Center continued with a 45-43 loss to the Tigers on Saturday night on the TSU campus.

After the Gamecocks (9-15, 2-8 OVC) started the second half with a 22-19 advantage to start with and opened the final half of play on a 12-2 scoring run to take a 15-point, 36-21 lead at the 13:06 mark of the second half.  The scoring spurt was sparked by senior guard Darion Rackley, who had nine of his team-high 16 points in the second half.  As a team, JSU was 2-of its last-15 from the field and hit 8-of-27 for 29 percent, while the Tigers posted a 22 percent shooting mark in the final 20 minutes.  The Tigers' run was aided at the free throw line as they were 16-of-23.

After that run, the Tigers (5-18, 2-6) employed their zone defense and gave the Gamecocks fits the rest of the way.  TSU, down by 15 points began chipping away at the deficit, while limiting Jax State offensively the rest of the way.  The Blue and White would string together a 19-2 run over a 9:23 span to erase the deficit and take its first lead since the 13:40 mark of the opening half.  TSU's Darreon Reddick drilled a three pointer from the right side to give his club a 40-39 lead with 4:45 left to play.  Scoring would be limited both ways for the final minutes as TSU posted the two-point win.  It was the Tigers second consecutive win after downing Tennessee Tech on Thursday night.  The loss was the 12^th in the last 13 trips to the TSU campus for the Gamecocks.  The 45 points is a season-low for JSU and the second time this season that it did not hit the 50-point mark this season.  JSU was forced to in to a 3-15 second half from long range.

Reddick led all TSU scorers with 14 points, while Charles Rucker added 12 points.  Demontez Loman pitched in 11 points and eight rebounds in the win.  Three of TSU's starters did not score as the bench posted 19 points.

Senior D. J. Felder matched his career high with 13 rebounds, including 12 on the defensive end of the floor.  Felder added six points and three assists in 33 minutes of action.  JaQuail Townser and Malcom Drumwright finished with seven points each.

The Gamecocks will step out of conference play on Wednesday to face the Tigers of Memphis to close out the non-conference slate.  Tip off from the FedEx Forum is set for 7 p.m. and will be available on ESPN3.