JACKSONVILLE – Marlon Hunter scored a career-high 22 points and Christian Cunningham recorded his team-leading sixth double-double of the season en route to a 78-60 win over Southeast Missouri at Pete Mathews Coliseum on Saturday.
 
Hunter's 22 points eclipsed his previous high of 21, scored Jan. 11 against Murray State at home. For the sixth consecutive game, at least one Gamecock has scored 20 or more points in a contest. Meanwhile, Cunningham tallied 10 points and 15 rebounds for his team-best 13th double-double of his career.
 
Along with Hunter's 22 points and Cunningham's 10, a total of five Gamecocks scored in double-digits. Jamall Gregory bucketed 12, and Jason Burnell and Malcolm Drumwright each posted 11. It's the first time since Dec. 16 that five JSU scorers tallied double-figures against USC Upstate, bringing an end to an 11-game drought.
 
"Our biggest thing tonight was our ball movement," head coach Ray Harper said. "There were moments in the game where we may have over-passed it, and that's a good thing. We shared the ball, made the next play and had a lot of guys score. That was huge tonight."
 
The Jacksonville State defense held the Redhawks (10-13, 4-6 OVC) to nearly 15 points below their scoring average (75.8), keeping SEMO to a 38.3 shooting percentage for the game. JSU forced 17 turnovers and out-rebounded the visitors from Cape Girardeau, Mo., 39-26.
 
The Gamecocks (16-7, 7-3 OVC) totaled 39 points in each of the game's two halves. Cunningham nearly claimed his double-double in one half, tallying nine points and nine rebounds in the first half alone. His nine points led JSU scorers in the period, followed by eight points each from Gregory and Hunter.
 
Cunningham entered the game with 527 career boards. His 15 rebounds, pulling his career mark to 542, passed Amadou Mbodji (528) for third on the school's Division I career rebounding list. Second place is Rusty Brand (543) and first is Nick Murphy (679).
 
Southeast Missouri held an advantage for just over three minutes the entire game, leading by as much as three points at the 12:29 mark in the opening half. That lead quickly fizzled as JSU jumped ahead two minutes later on a 7-0 run to take a permanent lead. The Gamecocks led by as much as 14 with 30 seconds to go in the half before a couple of SEMO free throws cut it to 12.
 
Despite allowing five more points in the second half than the first, the Gamecocks outscored the Redhawks 39-33 to keep the game out of reach. Jacksonville State was 14-for-29 shooting in the second half and kept SEMO to 10-for-24 in the period.
 
The Gamecocks hit the road for two games next week, squaring off against Eastern Illinois on Thursday at 7:30 p.m., followed by a 1 p.m. matchup Saturday at SIU-Edwardsville. JSU returns to Pete Mathews Coliseum Feb. 8 to take on Tennessee Tech at 8 p.m. on ESPNU.

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.
 
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