JACKSONVILLE – Erik Durham and Jacksonville State shot their ways past UT Martin in an 82-60 Ohio Valley Conference matchup on Saturday at Pete Mathews Coliseum.
 
Durham, a junior from Springfield, Mo., made eight 3-pointers, one off the school record, and scored  career-high 31 points to lead the Gamecocks (7-14, 3-3 OVC) on a night that saw 17 3-pointers fall through the JSU nets. The hot night from the floor paced JSU past a Skyhawks (10-9, 2-2 OVC) team that entered the day in first place in the OVC's West Division.
 
JSU claimed its second win in a row and got back to .500 in league play with a performance that saw the Gamecocks outduel the Skyhawks in almost every statistical column. They shot .51 percent from the floor and 47 percent from behind the arc while holding UTM to a shooting percentage of 36 and a 3-point percentage of just 22.
 
The Gamecocks outrebounded UTM, 33-29, committed just eight turnovers to the Skyhawks' 10 and dished 20 assists on just 29 made field goals.
 
Durham's night was the brightest of many highlights for JSU. The transfer from Lamar State in Texas, missed five games to an ankle injury and hadn't scored in double figures in any of his four games back before Saturday.
 
He came off the bench and led a group of four Gamecocks in double figures and five JSU players that connected at least once from behind the arc. Senior JaQuail Townser scored 13 points, while junior Greg Tucker and freshman Jared Hamilton each added 12. Sophomore Malcolm Drumwright flirted with a triple-double, scoring eight and dishing nine assists.
 
The Skyhawks got 15 points from Twymond Howard, despite a 4-for-13 night from the floor. His 6-for-8 effort from the stripe aided his scoring total, while Myles Taylor added 11 points. Both players had six boards in the loss.
 
The Gamecocks started the game on fire from beyond the arc, going 9-for-22 in the first half to build a 44-30 halftime lead. Durham was 4-for-7 from 3-point range in the first 20 minutes to lead all scorers with 17 points at the break.
 
That hot shooting continued into the start of the second half for the Gamecocks, who connected on seven of their first 10 shots from the floor and four of their first six from behind the arc to pull out to a 66-38 lead with just over 11 minutes to play.
 
The Gamecocks return to the road, where they will face Eastern Kentucky on Thursday at 6 p.m. CT before wrapping up their trip to the Blugrass State with an 11 a.m. game at Morehead State on Saturday.