JACKSONVILLE  - In front of an electric crowd on Saturday afternoon, the Jacksonville State men's basketball team took down Florida Gulf Coast, 79-71, for its seventh-straight victory.
 
The Gamecocks (12-6, 5-0 ASUN) are now one win shy of the program's best Division I conference start since Ray Harper's 2018-19 bunch opened Ohio Valley Conference play at 6-0. The Eagles (12-8, 2-4 ASUN) led for more than 17 minutes before falling in the first-ever meeting between the two programs.
 
Taking the Gamecocks and the ASUN by storm, Tulsa, Oklahoma, native, Demaree King led the way offensively with his second-straight 20-point game. The junior, who entered the game ranked fourth in the nation in three-point percentage, finished 4-of-6 from downtown and 7-of-9 from the floor overall. Followed closely by senior Darian Adams' 18 points, JSU's top two scorers both topped FGCU's Tavian Dunn-Martin, the ASUN's second-leading scorer, who finished with 17 for the Eagles.
 
Jalen Gibbs added 12 points and Brandon Huffman narrowly missed a double-double with nine points and nine boards.
 
FGCU scored the opening seven points of the night and still led 22-16 midway through the first half. The lead was still at six with just over six minutes to play until the half when a fast break dunk from Adams sparked a rally that had Pete Mathews Coliseum buzzing. Another slam soon after from Huffman cut the deficit to 31-29, and following a free-throw by Gibbs, King swiped his only steal of the night and found Kayne Henry racing up the court for the go-ahead jam.
 
JSU finished the half on a 14-4 run to take its largest lead up to that point into the locker room at 40-35. The Eagles briefly trimmed the margin back to two to begin the second half, but the Gamecocks would never relinquish the lead. Adams handed JSU its first double-digit lead with a layup at the 15:24 mark making it 51-41.
 
After just three first-half points, King hit his stride in the second with 17 of his 20 points to ensure there would be no comeback by the Eagles. The Gamecock lead was as many as 18 in the closing minutes before FGCU connected from deep a couple times to cut the final back to single digits.
 
The current seven-game streak is the longest for JSU since winning eight-in-a-row at the end of the 2018-19 season, before falling to Murray State in the OVC Tournament semifinals. The Gamecocks have a chance to reach eight in just two days when they host West-Division co-leader Bellarmine, who also entered Saturday unbeaten in league play.
 
Monday night's game will tip at 6 p.m. and could prove vital in the ASUN West Division standings down the stretch.