JACKSONVILLE – The Jacksonville State men's basketball team topped Murray State 76-71 Thursday night at Pete Mathews Coliseum in front of a crowd of 3,004.
 
The win draws the Gamecocks (13-5, 4-1 OVC) into a five-way tie for first place with Murray State (12-4, 4-1 OVC), Belmont, Tennessee Tech and Austin Peay in the Ohio Valley Conference standings. The victory was just the second over the Racers in program history, bringing the all-time record to 20-2.
 
"It was a great game, all-around," head coach Ray Harper said. "Our kids played extremely hard and competed. I thought we were absolutely terrific in the first half. They got a couple of 3-pointers, but we had very few breakdowns in the first half. But I thought they beat us with some 50/50 balls and we weren't as efficient in the second half."
 
Junior Marlon Hunter scored a career-high 21 points, grabbed a career-best seven rebounds and tied his career-high in steals with four. The Memphis, Tenn., native was 9-for-12 from the floor and 2-for-2 from long range.
 
Senior Malcolm Drumwright pocketed 20 points, and juniors Jason Burnell and Christian Cunningham each tallied 12 points. Drumwright accounted for five assists.
 
The Gamecock defense was outstanding, forcing 16 turnovers – 10 of which came in the first half. Along with Hunter's four steals, Cunningham swatted four shots and had three steals Jamall Gregory had three blocks. In total, Jacksonville State picked 10 passes and blocked eight shots.
 
Jacksonville State outscored the Racers 43-26 in the first half. The Gamecocks tallied 12 points off the half's 10 turnovers and outworked MSU 16-8 in the paint.
 
Murray State got out to a 4-0 lead to start the game, but the Gamecocks hit an 8-0 run after three minutes to take an 11-7 advantage. The defense held MSU to a three-minute scoring drought near the middle of the period, which helped the JSU offense to a 10-point run and 12-point lead. Drumwright scored 13 and Hunter had 12 in the half.
 
The Gamecocks led by as much as 19 at the 13:54 mark of the second half, but as mentioned by Harper, JSU struggled in the late minutes. The Racers outscored Jacksonville State 45-33 in the closing half.
 
In the last 1:25, Murray State's Jonathan Stark hit four 3-pointer to help the Racers to a bring the JSU lead to three with seven seconds to go. The Gamecocks were able to get the ball into the hands of Drumwright on the inbound, forcing the Racers to foul Jacksonville State's top free-throw shooter. Drumwright hit both freebies to put the game out of reach.
 
Tickets are now available for purchase online at JSUGamecocksTickets.com, by phone at (256) 782-8499 and on campus at the JSU Ticket Office at Kennamer Hall. Children 18-years-old and under and JSU students are admitted free.
 
For more information on the JSU men's basketball team, follow the Gamecocks on Twitter (@JSU_MBB). For more on all Gamecocks sports teams, follow the official social media accounts of JSU Athletics on Twitter (@JSUGamecocks), Facebook (Facebook.com/JSUGamecocks), Instagram (@JSUGamecocks) and Snapchat (@JSUGamecocks).