JACKSONVILLE – The Jacksonville State men's basketball team fell 76-63 Thursday night at Pete Mathews Coliseum, suffering their first Ohio Valley Conference loss of the season.
 
Sophomore Christian Cunningham blocked a career-high six shots, put up 11 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Junior Norbertas Giga, the reigning OVC adidas® Newcomer of the Week, scored a team-best 12 points.
 
The Gamecocks (9-8, 2-1 OVC) led the Racers (8-8, 2-0 OVC) for just over a minute in the first half and remained in striking distance or tied for the other 17. JSU led by as much as a field goal, 27-25, at the 5:43 mark.
 
With less than four minutes to go in the half, JSU and Murray State were locked at 30-30. Erik Durham was 3-for-3 from beyond the arc, leading Gamecock scorers with nine points, and Cunningham followed just behind with seven points.
 
Despite out-scoring the Racers 14-4 in the paint and putting up four more bench points in the first half, MSU pulled out to a 38-35 lead just before the break. Jonathan Stark nailed a three-pointer from nearly the corner of the scorer's table to guarantee an advantage heading to the locker room.
 
Murray State pulled away in the second half and extended their lead to a night's-best 12 points midway through the period. The Racers went on an 11-8 run between the under-12 media timeout and the under-four media.
 
MSU shot an outstanding 72.2 percent from three-point range. Terrell Miller and Jonathan Stark led the Racers with 28 and 23 points, respectively. Miller was 9-for-15 from three-point range while Stark was 7-for-18 from beyond the arc.
 
Jacksonville State continues its home swing Saturday when it hosts Austin Peay at 7 p.m. The home series wraps up Jan. 10 with a 7 p.m. contest against non-conference foe Fort Valley State.
 
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