JACKSONVILLE – The Jacksonville State men's basketball team earned a 76-64 win over Eastern Illinois in a highlight-rich game Thursday night at Pete Mathews Coliseum.
 
Despite seeing their lead dwindle to five points in the waning minutes, the Gamecocks (13-7, 9-5 OVC) were in the driver's seat the entire game and led by as many as 25 points in the second half.
 
"We got a little lackadaisical near the end, but we looked close to the team we're capable of being when we were dialed in," Head Coach Ray Harper said.
 
To go along with a monstrous slam dunk and swat, senior Kayne Henry tallied 17 points and grabbed eight rebounds, while fellow senior Darian Adams totaled a team-high 18 points after going scoreless in the first half.
 
"Kayne played really well tonight. He's a kid who doesn't know how good he can be. He was aggressive, attacking the rim and going after rebounds. He really showed what he can do tonight."
 
Jax State scored the first basket of the game and never looked back. The defense held the Panthers (7-15, 4-11 OVC) to just 20 percent shootings (8-for-40) and did not allowed an EIU 3-pointer in the opening period.
 
Henry owned the first half, scoring 13 points on 5-for-8 shooting. The only Gamecocks the senior from London, England allowed to score more than five points in the first 20 minutes were Brandon Huffman and Amanze Ngumezi, totaling seven points each.
 
Leading 38-19 at the half, it was lowest scoring half for a Gamecock opponent this season.
 
Eastern Illinois' Mack Smith opened the second period with the Panthers' first 3-pointer of the night, but he soon found his team down by a game-high 25 points once Jax State got rolling. Huffman answered the trey with a two-handed dunk and Adams hit a jumper to completely erase the EIU bucket.
 
Henry followed up with an alley-oop jam on a feed from Jalen Finch, who ended the night with eight assists. A pair of Henry free throws just minutes later made it a 49-26 game in favor of the Gamecocks.
 
EIU battled back to make things interesting with less than two minutes to go, though. The Panthers pieced together a five-minute, 15-2 run that cut the JSU advantage to 65-58, but Adams widened the gap back to double digits with a steal and breakaway dunk to halt the Eastern Illinois momentum in its tracks.
 
After not hitting a basket in the first half, Adams was 4-for-6 from the floor with three 3-pointers, and he knocked down seven of nine free-throw attempts.
 
Adams and Finch were both 7-for-9 from the free throw line, helping Jax State to an 81.5 percent (22-for-27) night from the charity stripe.
 
Huffman and Ngumezi both saw significant time on the floor for the Gamecocks, collecting many playing minutes at the same time with Huffman playing the five and Ngumezi playing the four. Huffman had 11 rebounds and missed a double-double by one point, while Ngumezi bucketed 11 points.
 
The Panthers, who were without starting point guard Josiah Wallace, were led by 21 points from Marvin Johnson. Kashawn Charles added 15 points off the bench for EIU.
 
The Gamecocks now turn their attention to Saturday as they host SIUE. Jax State and the Cougars tip off at 4 p.m. at Pete Mathews Coliseum.
 
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