MOBILE, Ala. – The Jacksonville State men's basketball team survived a late-game comeback to claim its first-ever road victory over a Sun Belt team Sunday, scoring a 77-73 win over South Alabama.
 
Junior Demaree King led the Gamecocks (2-1) to their second win in a row with a career-high 24 points on 8-for-11 shooting. All eight buckets came from beyond the arc, putting him just one trey shy of the school's single-game record for 3-pointers.
 
After trailing by as many as 16 points, the Jaguars (2-1) rallied back to cut the JSU lead to two in the waning minutes. Michael Flowers hit a 3-pointer with 1:34 to play to shorten the Gamecock score to 75-73. Following a Jax State timeout, Flowers missed a jumper and USA began fouling. Darian Adams missed a free-throw attempt that would have put JSU up three with 12 seconds left, and South Alabama called a timeout after grabbing the defensive rebound.
 
With two seconds on the clock and a shot in the paint in sight for the Jaguars, Flowers was called for traveling. JSU's Khalil Johnson was fouled on the inbound and went to the line for two. The forward hit both shots to put the game out of reach despite a last-second, three-quarters court shot that careened off the top of the backboard.
 
"We didn't do a very good job on the defensive end and did some things that a still-relatively new team does, but we've been able to play three games," head coach Ray Harper said. "We've had a lot of teaching moments, and we have a group that listens. It's early and we have 11 new guys, but we play hard. We have two wins on this trip and we have one more game tomorrow."
 
Before reaching a game-best 16-point lead in the second half, the Jax State advantage hit double digits just before halftime. With five seconds remaining on the clock, Jacksonville State inbounded under its own basket and fed King just across the half-court line. The junior threw up an open shot just to the right of the Jags' logo as the clock expired to make it a 39-29 game at the break.
 
King had 12 points at the half, complimented by eight points from Adams. More than half of Jacksonville State's first-half points (24) came from 8-for-22 from 3-point range.
 
Adams ended the night with 17 points as he and King became the first Gamecock duo this season to score in double in the same game. Meanwhile, point guard Jalen Finch dished out a career-best nine assists – the most for a JSU player since Malcolm Drumwright had a season-high nine against Belmont on Feb. 22, 2018.
 
Jacksonville State is 2-1 to begin a season for the first time since 2017-18 when the Gamecocks won games over Tennessee Wesleyan and Richmond before falling at Buffalo. Buffalo was coached by Nate Oats that season. Jax State's lone loss this season is to Oats' No. 25 Alabama.
 
Jacksonville State wraps up the Goldie and Herman Ungar Memorial Tournament on Monday with a 2 p.m. matchup with the University of Mobile. It is set to be the first meeting between the Gamecocks and the Division-II Rams.
 
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