Men's basketball tips off season Friday at Samford - Jacksonville State University Athletics

JACKSONVILLE – The Jacksonville State men's basketball team tips off its 2018-19 season Friday night in Birmingham, Ala., as Samford hosts the Gamecocks at Pete Hanna Center at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN3.

Jacksonville State enters the new campaign picked to finish third in the Ohio Valley Conference with seniors Christian Cunningham and Jason Burnell each named to the Preseason All-OVC Team. Burnell returns as JSU's lone 2018 All-OVC selection following the graduation of Malcolm Drumwright. With the departure of Drumwright and fellow then-senior Norbertas Giga, head coach Ray Harper has two starting spots to fill going into the season.

The Gamecocks won a program-best 23 games last season since joining the Division I ranks in 1995-96. The previous high was 20, achieved in 2002-03 and 2016-17. It also marked the first time a JSU squad claimed back-to-back 20-win seasons at the D1 level, becoming the first team to repeat since the Division II Gamecocks did so under Bill Jones in 1990-91 and 1991-92.

Samford is 1-0 on the season already, having topped North Alabama 91-74 on Tuesday at Pete Hanna Center. Three Bulldogs scored in double figured, led by Myron Gordon's 19-point performance. Samford is picked to finish eighth in the Southern Conference and is looking to replace all five starters from last year's squad that finished 10-22 overall and 6-12 in the conference.

Men's Basketball - Game 1
Jacksonville State (0-0, 0-0 OVC) at Samford (1-0, 0-0 SoCon)
November 9, 2018 | 6:30 p.m.
Birmingham, Ala. | Pete Hanna Center (5,000)

SERIES HISTORY
Last Meeting: December 3, 2017 (W, 89-58) @ JSU
All-Time Series Record: Samford leads series 38-53

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Harper is entering his 20th season as a head coach and his third at the helm of the Gamecocks. The veteran head coach owns a 474-155 overall mark and 43-28 record at Jacksonville State. Just last season, Harper became the fastest JSU Division I head coach to reach 40 wins, achieving the feat in just 66 contests. The record was previously held by Mike LaPlante (2000-2008, who won 40 games in 80 tries.

Cunningham enters the game with 161 career blocks – just two swats away from becoming Jacksonville State's all-time leading blocker. He sits behind Amadou Mbodji (2006-2010) who currently holds the record with 162 blocks.

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).

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Players Mentioned

Jason Burnell

Christian Cunningham

Malcolm Drumwright

Norbertas Giga

Amadou Mbodji

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