RICHMOND, Ky. – For more than a decade Alumni Coliseum had been a kind of "House of Horrors" for Jacksonville State, losing its first 12 games there, but the Gamecocks have put those days behind them with their third win since 2018 on Saturday night.
 
Jax State (10-6) remains perfect in ASUN Conference play, moving to 3-0 and atop the Western Division with a 76-65 victory over EKU. The Colonels (8-10) continued their early league struggle falling to 0-4 in the ASUN. Saturday's contest featured four ties, but EKU never led with the Gamecocks owning the advantage for more than 38 minutes.
 
Four Gamecocks finished with 10-or-more points led by senior Jalen Gibbs with 21. The Indian Head, Maryland, native, was 5-of-6 from downtown as part of JSU's 53-percent team three-point percentage. Junior Demaree King, who's shooting is off the charts over the last month, added to the long-range efficiency going 3-for-3 from deep and finishing with 11 points. Maros Zeliznak notched double-digits for the first time this season with 11 points of his own in a big performance that featured three assists, two rebounds and a block. Senior Brandon Huffman got the night started with the first six points before finishing with 10 total and 13 rebounds in his second-double-double of the year.
 
Following Huffman's strong start inside, Gibbs and began to find his rhythm and JSU led 25-17 midway through the first. The Gamecocks would go scoreless for nearly four minutes and allow EKU to climb back to tie it at 25, but Gibbs responded with another triple to quickly put JSU back in front.
 
After a narrow two-point lead at the half, JSU built the lead back to seven at 44-37 early in the second stanza. EKU worked the deficit back to two at 48-46, but a basket from Darian Adams, who finished with eight points, sparked an 8-0 run to pad the margin back to double digits.
 
The Colonels shot 39 treys, but hit only 11, as the Gamecocks were able to hold the nation's most-frequent three-point team in check. Overall, EKU shot 35-percent (23-65) while missing 43 shots. JSU was a much more efficient 28-for 49 at 57-percent for its second-best shooting game of the season behind Elon.
 
JSU remains on the road to face Central Arkansas on Tuesday night in Conway, Arkansas. The Bears are 3-1 t- start ASUN play, with JSU looking to match its best league start at 4-0 with another win.