CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – The Jacksonville State men's basketball team earned its fourth road victory in a row Saturday with a 66-54 win over Southeast Missouri at the Show Me Center.
 
The Gamecocks (12-7, 8-5 OVC) were relentless on defense, holding the Redhawks (7-12, 5-8 OVC) to just 33 percent shooting (17-for-51) while crashing the boards for a 44-32 rebounding advantage. In the second half, SEMO hit just seven of 24 shot attempts – a 29.2 percent clip.
 
"I thought we were really locked in to what we were trying to do defensively," Head Coach Ray Harper said. "I thought we went after rebounds like we need to do on a consistent basis. We struggled a few times in the first half on the offensive end, but we were only down one at the half because we defended. And then I thought we stepped it up another level in the second half."
 
The first half belonged to the home team on the offensive end. Despite the Gamecocks grabbing a brief lead on a 7-0 run and a Darian Adams 3-pointer, the Redhawks answered with a six-point run to cancel out the hot streak.
 
Although turning the ball over nine times, Jacksonville State ended the first half just one point off the lead, 29-28, thanks to a stretch in the final five minutes of the period when the Gamecocks outscored SEMO 11-5. Amanze Ngumezi led the scoring in the opening 20 minutes, hitting 3-of-4 shots for six points.
 
The second half belonged almost entirely to Jax State. Jay Pal hit a 3-pointer prior to the first media timeout, pushing JSU's scoring streak to seven with the triple. That clip soon turned into a 15-1 run that put the Gamecocks up 17 with less than seven minutes to play. To that point in the period, SEMO had been outscored 28-10.
 
The Redhawks enjoyed a late surge, but the closest they came to the JSU lead was seven before Jalen Finch scored four straight to push to the advantage back to double digits for good.
 
Finch came alive for 12 points in the second, driving the lane for 10 while hitting a pair of free throws. Adams backed him up with eight points in the final period. Adams ended the night 12 points, while Ngumezi finished with 12 before fouling out.
 
For SEMO, guards DQ Nicholas and Eric Reed Jr. scored 13 and 12, respectively. Jacksonville State's defense held leading-scorer Chris Harris to 0-for-9 shooting with only a pair of made free throws.
 
The Gamecocks return home Thursday, Feb. 11 to host Eastern Illinois. Tip-off at Pete Mathews Coliseum is set for 7:30 p.m. Jax State returns to action Saturday, Feb. 13 at 4 p.m. against SIUE.
 
As announced late this week, JSU's second contest against SIUE (originally scheduled for Monday, Feb. 15) has been postponed. A reschedule date has not been announced.
 
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