MOREHEAD, Ky. – The Jacksonville State men's basketball team got back on track in its final day in the Bluegrass State with a 77-71 win over Morehead State at Ellis T. Johnson Arena on Saturday.
 
Redshirt senior Detrick Mostella scored a Jacksonville State-best 19 points on a single-game-high eight baskets, while senior Jason Burnell earned his ninth double-double of the season with 19 points and 13 rebounds.
 
Head coach Ray Harper keeps Jacksonville State in a tie for first place atop the Ohio Valley Conference standings by winning his third-straight, and fourth-out-of-five, over Morehead State.
 
"Mostella came alive and made some big shots for us, and Burnell created some mismatch problems for them, as well," Harper said. "It wasn't our best defending game, but sometimes you have to find a way to win and we did that today."
 
Jacksonville State dominated in the paint early on, outscoring the Eagles 24-14 on the inside in the first half. Bigs Jacara Cross, Burnell and Christian Cunningham each scored six points in the period, combining for 18 of the Gamecocks' 38 points at the break.
 
Only three JSU points came from beyond the arc in the first with Ty Hudson connecting on one of the Gamecocks' seven attempts from long range. On the other hand, Morehead State relied on the 3-pointer for 15 of its 35 points in the half. MSU's Djimon Harris was 2-for-4 from long for all six of his points.
 
Morehead State stormed back in the first seven minutes of the second half to climb into a five-point lead. The Eagles' offense was sparked by two 3-pointers each from Lamontray Hicks and James Baker. With 12:22 remaining in the contest, MSU had taken a 55-50 lead; its first multi-point lead since 7:16 to play in the first half.
 
"We didn't defend well in the second half," Harper said. They started banging three's, and you have to give them a lot of credit. Hicks is not a 3-point shooter, but he came out and hit two in a row, and we lost Baker on a couple."
 
Five proved to be the largest deficit of the period, however, as Mostella helped the Gamecocks regain the advantage with 13 points in 10 minutes. The transfer knocked down the first of his three 3-pointers with 11:32 to play. He hit four more baskets, including two more treys, to surpass his first-half total by six.
 
Along with Mostella and Brunell, Cunningham finished in double-digits with 12 points and came up one rebound short of a double-double.
 
The Gamecocks return to the court at Pete Mathews Coliseum on January 31 to begin a weekend battle of the OVC's first-place teams. JSU takes on Murray State at 7:15 p.m. Thursday before hosting Austin Peay on Saturday at 4 p.m. Both games are set to broadcast on ESPN+.
 
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).