MOBILE, Ala. – The Jacksonville State men's basketball team claimed its first win of the season Friday with a 60-50 defeat of Florida Atlantic at South Alabama's Goldie and Herman Ungar Memorial Tournament.
 
Senior Darian Adams led the Gamecocks (1-1) with 18 points on 7-for-14 shooting in the win over the C-USA's Owls (0-2). It was the first nonconference win over FAU for Jax State, renewing the series for the first time since 2003 when the two programs last met as members of the Atlantic Sun.
 
"We were better today than we were Wednesday," head coach Ray Harper said. "We talked about that, but we played hard and we were tough. We still have room for improvement, and we just have to be better each game out. We have to play hard like that all year, stick together and continue to improve."
 
With their lead whittled down to three with 12 minutes to play, the Gamecocks turned up the intensity and pushed their lead to a game-high 14 points over the next eight minutes and limited FAU to just seven points. Adams scored 11 of his team-best mark in the second, while fellow transfer Anamze Ngumezi tallied seven points in less than seven minutes of play.
 
With the Florida Atlantic defense running a full-court press in the final two minutes, Juwan Perdue split the trap for a breakaway dunk that sealed the win for Jacksonville State.
 
Senior transfer Brandon Huffman saw significantly more minutes Friday than he did Wednesday at Alabama. The big man scored seven, grabbed nine boards, blocked two hots and turned the ball over just once. On his lead, JSU out-rebounded the Owls 43-32 and scored eight second-chance points.
 
"Huffman was a difference maker today," Harper said. "He caused [Karlis Silins] for FAU some trouble today, and he was vocal on the bench when he wasn't in the game."
 
In the first half, Martin Roub provided a spark off the bench and scored six points on a pair of back-to-back 3-pointers. The senior's sharp shooting led to a 10-point run that saw FAU score just two points in more than five minutes.
 
Open looks helped the Owls regain a momentary lead with less than 11 minutes to play in the period. A 3-point bucket and successful foul shot from guard Michael Forrest aided a nine-point run and 16-12 advantage.
 
The Gamecock defense shut out Florida Atlantic for the final 6:35 of the half. JSU hit a pair of buckets and made three free throws down the stretch to go ahead 24-20 at the half. Adams was the Jax State scoring leader at the break with seven points on 3-for-9 shooting.
 
Jacksonville State improved to 6-7 in the all-time series against Florida Atlantic with the win. Harper, who coached against FAU regularly as the head coach at Western Kentucky, padded his record against the Sunshine State program 5-3.
 
The Gamecocks have Saturday off and return to action Sunday, Nov. 19 against South Alabama at 4 p.m. The game will broadcast on ESPN+. JSU wraps up the Goldie & Herman Ungar Memorial Tournament on Monday with a 2 p.m. contest against Mobile.
 
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