JACKSONVILLE –
Darion Rackley led five Gamecocks in double figures on Saturday night, when the Jacksonville State men's basketball team raced to an 82-68 win over Tennessee Tech at Pete Mathews Coliseum.
Rackley used a solid night from the floor and another great night from the free throw line to lead all scorers with 24 points, his eighth 20-point game of the year and 17th of his career. The Gamecocks (11-17, 4-9 Ohio Valley Conference) had five players in double figures for the first time since Nov. 22 and avenged a road loss to the Golden Eagles (12-14, 4-9 OVC) a week ago.
Rackley was 6-for-12 from the floor and 11-for-12 from the free throw line, while also pulling down seven boards and dishing a career-high-tying six assists. He ran his season points total to 408 points, his first over 400 in four years in red and white. His career total extends to 1,296, which puts him one ahead of Paul Trammell in 13th on the school's all-time scoring list.
Senior forward
Jamal Hunter had another strong outing inside, scoring 15 points on 7-for-8 shooting and coming up one board shy of a double-double with nine boards.
Freshman
Malcolm Drumwright also scored 15, using a 6-for-8 night at the line, while seniors
Avery Moore and
D.J. Felder added 14 and 10 points, respectively, to round out the five players in double figures.
The Gamecocks were 23-for-28 (.821) from the charity stripe, including 15-for-18 in the second half.
TTU got 20 points and nine rebounds from Josiah Moore.
JSU grabbed an early 9-4 lead and then thing slowed down. The Golden Eagles clawed back and led by as many as six in the first half. The Gamecocks took off an a 19-5 run to close the half and take a 36-26 lead into the locker room.
The Gamecocks scored the first basket of the second half to make it a 12-point game and led by as many as 16 down the stretch. The Golden Eagles wouldn't get within single digits in the final 11 minutes.
JSU will take a week off before wrapping up the 2014-15 home schedule on Saturday against Tennessee State at 4:30 p.m.
