NICEVILLE, Fla. – Erik Durham and Jared Hamilton scored career highs and the Jacksonville State men's basketball team held off a late Chicago State charge for a 68-65 win to open the Emerald Coast Classic on Friday.
 
Durham poured in 23, thanks to a 6-for-9 effort from behind the arc, while Hamilton scored 17 to lift the Gamecocks (3-5) over the Panthers (3-3) and into Saturday's bracket championship game against Chattanooga at 1 p.m.
 
Hamilton led JSU with six boards, while Durham and sophomore Malcolm Drumwright each grabbed five rebounds. To go along with Durham and Hamilton's career highs in the points column, Drumwright added 14 while dishing six assists.
 
The Panthers got 24 points from Kieran Woods and 17 from Elliott Cole.
 
A back-and-forth game in the early minutes saw the Gamecocks pull away at the midway point of the half. They used a 10-0 run that stretched almost three minutes and gave them a 26-17 lead with 6:15 left in the half.
 
The Panthers pulled within five, but three-straight 3-pointers from the Gamecocks by Drumwright, Durham and DelFincko Bogan gave JSU its largest lead of the half at 39-27. The Panthers got a putback just before the horn to make it a 10-point game at the intermission.
 
CSU scored the first five points of the second half to cut the Gamecocks' lead to five at 39-34 and extended the run to 14-4 and pulled to within two at 43-41.
 
The Gamecocks were able to hold off several CSU attempts, finding an answer for each one before the final horn blew with Jax State hanging on for the win.