JACKSONVILLE – The Jacksonville State men's basketball team claimed the top spot in the Ohio Valley Conference Thursday in front of a sellout-crowd at Pete Mathews Coliseum, downing Murray State 88-68.
 
Senior Jason Burnell recorded his team-leading 10th double-double of the year on 21 points and a career-high 15 rebounds. Fellow senior Marlon Hunter led the offense with 24 points, while junior point guard Ty Hudson pocketed 15 points with five assists.
 
The Gamecocks (16-6, 8-1 OVC) now sit atop the league standings, breaking the tie for first over the Racers (16-4, 7-2 OVC) in just the program's third win over MSU. Ray Harper now owns two of those three wins as JSU's head coach.
 
"These were the top two teams going into the game," Harper said. "This was a big game and our kids responded – especially on the defensive end. We put up 88, so I guess we did a little on the offensive end, too.
 
"It was a complete effort. Everybody played and contributed, but the biggest thing was that we competed."
 
The Gamecocks received a major boost from their 3,718 fans in attendance; a historic gathering that represents Pete Mathews Coliseum's first Division I capacity crowd.
 
Jacksonville State took a 41-34 to the locker room after shooting better than 53-percent in the first half. Hunter tallied 10 of his 24 points on four-for-four shooting and four free throws.
 
Murray State led by two on a KJ Williams layup to begin the game, but it would prove to be one of the largest advantage the Racers could muster for the game. MSU's last lead came at 9:08 on a Ja Morant 3-pointer, 23-21. After the trey from the NBA prospect, Jacksonville State went on a 20-11 run to close out the period.
 
JSU opened its lead up to double digits just three minutes into the second half. Burnell capped off an 8-4 stretch to begin the period with a layup to put Jacksonville State up 11. The lead dipped below 10 just once for the remainder of the game as the Gamecocks outscored the Racers 47-34 through the final 20 minutes.
 
Burnell totaled 11 points in the second half and out-rebounded his first-half total by eight, and Hunter matched his first-half points total of 12. The two helped a dominating effort in the paint that saw the Gamecocks win 50-24 on the inside game.
 
The JSU defense forced 11 turnovers and outscored the Racers 16-5 on miscues. The league's best field-goal percentage defense and second-best scoring defense also limited Murray State to 40-percent shooting for nearly 16 points below its scoring average.
 
Top-prospect Morant scored a Murray State-best 22 points and added 11 helpers.
Jacksonville State defends its first-place title Saturday evening at Pete Mathews Coliseum against second-place Austin Peay at 4 p.m.
 
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 Pete Mathews Coliseum. 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).