PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Mexico – The Jacksonville State men's basketball team earned its first win of the season Tuesday with a record-setting 84-53 defeat of Western Carolina in the first game of the Cancun Challenge at the Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya.
 
The Gamecock defense forced 35 turnovers with the help of 19 team steals. The 19 pickoffs broke a Cancun Challenge single-game record of 14 steals, previously held by VCU since 2008. Jacksonville State scored 45 of its points off turnovers.
 
"We had a little time since our last game to get a few defensive things corrected," head coach Ray Harper said. "I thought our press was good to us today. We got rolling a little bit, but I was most impressed with our bench. They were energized the entire game."
 
Guards Jamall Gregory and Derek St. Hilaire provided the spark off the bench as each led the Gamecocks in scoring with 15 points. Gregory's 15 points were accompanied by five steals to tie his career high. St. Hilaire's 15 is a career-high in a JSU uniform. Of Jacksonville State's 84 points, 46 came from the bench.
 
Marlon Hunter scored six of the Gamecocks' first 12 points within the first five minutes of the game, giving Jacksonville State a nine-point. JSU led the Catamounts 18-11 halfway through the period.
 
The WCU defense put the clamps on Hunter soon after, allowing the senior just three points the remainder of the stanza, and erasing the Jacksonville State lead six minutes before the break. The Catamounts tied the contest 22-22 with 5:55 to play, but that's when Gregory struck with his second dunk of the day and turned momentum to the Gamecocks.
 
With a steal and thunderous two-handed dunk, Gregory ignited an 11-0 run to push the season's best lead to 11, 33-22, with 1:10 left in the period. The run saw the senior lead scoring with four points, while Hunter hit a jumper and free throw for three points.
 
The second half was all Gamecocks. JSU outscored its Southern Conference foe 51-29 in the second, recording its highest-scoring period of the season. After trading baskets through the opening three minutes, Harper began pressing the Catamount offense. Beginning with a couple of Detrick Mostella free throws at 16:54, the Gamecocks went on a near-five-minute, 21-0 run to put WCU down 56-31.
 
Eleven of St. Hilaire's 15 points came in the second half, while freshman De'Torrion Ware impressed with 10 points in nine minutes of play in the closing period. All 10 of Ware's points came in less than nine minutes – between 11:03 and 2:22.
 
Senior Christian Cunningham was the fourth Gamecock to score in double-digits with 10 points. Fellow senior Jason Burnell shared the rebounding effort with four and recorded a game-high five assists. In addition, freshman Maros Zaleznak scored his first collegiate points with a basket in the second period.
 
The win over Western Carolina puts the Gamecocks in the Mayan Division Championship game against North Florida on Wednesday at 2 p.m. CT on CBS Sports Digital.
 
Season tickets and single-game 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).