CONWAY, Ark. – Jacksonville State matched its best start to ASUN Conference play in its first season back in the league moving to 4-0 after a thrilling 86-81 victory at Central Arkansas on Tuesday night.
 
The Gamecocks (11-6, 4-0 ASUN) became the first opposing team to win on the newly deemed Scottie Pippen Court, after the Bears (6-12, 3-2 ASUN) won their first five home games of the season since the naming dedication over the summer. The win was the sixth-straight overall for Jax State and tied the 1999-00 and 2002-03 JSU teams with four-straight ASUN wins to start league play.
 
Senior Kayne Henry's fastbreak dunk from Darian Adams' feed in the final five seconds sealed the win in dramatic fashion after the two teams went back-and-forth all night. The contest featured 24 lead changes and 12 more ties. After never trailing at Eastern Kentucky on Saturday, JSU led for only 12 minutes on Tuesday, playing from behind for the majority of the second half after a 41-39 halftime deficit.
 
In an instant classic, six Gamecocks finished in double figures, countered by five Bears doing the same thing across the way. Junior Demaree King led the way with 20 points, improving his conference-leading three-point percentage on 6-of-11 from downtown. Henry scored 16 points and Jalen Finch finished with 14 and six assists. Jalen Gibbs added 11 points, all in the second half, while Brandon Huffman and Adams each registered 10 apiece.
 
Huffman put in back-to-back buckets to open a 4-0 lead for JSU, but the Bears would quickly prove it was going to be a battle all night. UCA reclaimed the lead at 14-13, before consecutive triples from King pushed JSU briefly back ahead. Turnovers were the leading issue for JSU all night, finishing with 20 which resulted in 30 points for the Bears. A couple of breakdowns late in the half allowed an 8-0 Bear run that forced head coach Ray Harper to take a timeout down 29-26.
 
UCA hit eight threes compared to JSU's 12, but a late one in the first half sent the purple and white into the break up by a pair. JSU bounced back instantly with a triple from Gibbs for his first bucket of the game to go back ahead.
 
The largest lead for both teams was only five points, which UCA held midway through the second half at 63-58. As JSU fought back, Henry had another key play drawing a flagrant foul on a drive to the goal that UCA left open on the left side. With two free throws he put JSU ahead 71-70 with the ball, but the lead continued to exchange hands back-and-forth.
 
Fast-forward to the final minute and Adams' short runner in the paint tied it at 81 with 50 seconds to play. The Gamecocks got a stop and Finch was poised to give JSU the lead on a layup, but was tagged with a charge call instead. Still more than 30 seconds to go, UCA was forced to shoot with under 10 seconds remaining and after bouncing around the rim, JSU came flying the other way with possession. Adams got the ball on the right wing and instantly hit Henry cutting to the paint from the opposite side for the emphatic dunk and drew a foul.
 
JSU will bring its unblemished league record home to Pete Mathews Coliseum on Saturday when it hosts Florida Gulf Coast in the first cross-division matchup of the season.