JACKSONVILLE – Behind a season-high 30 points from senior Demaree King, Jacksonville State won its fifth-straight game at home to begin the 2022-23 season with a narrow 78-73 victory over Georgia Southwestern.
 
The 5-0 stretch for the Gamecocks (7-6) is the best home winning streak to begin a season since Ray Harper's bunch won its first seven games at Pete Mathews Coliseum to start the 2018-19 season. Most of those were conference games after a delayed home date due to renovations at The Pete following tornado damage from nine months earlier.
 
On Tuesday, Jax State had to fend off a scrappy GSW (4-5) squad out of the Peach Belt Conference, whp shot 56.4-percent from the floor in the near upset. The Hurricanes had four players score in double fogires and led JSU for 21 minutes during the first meeting between the two schools.
 
Behind King's 30 points, which featured an explosive 24-point swing in the second-half, the Gamecocks got 15 points from Skyelar Potter and eight more from Clarence "Monzy" Jackson. Coming off his career scoring day, Juwan Perdue finished with just six points, but continued to lead JSU on the glass with eight boards.
 
GSW scored the first four points of the game before JSU's quickly flipped the script to go up 7-4. From there, the Hurricanes regained the lead and held the advantage all the way until Jackson's second-chance bucket tied the game at 25 with four minutes to play before the half. The Gamecocks had recaptured momentum, but it was quickly gone again as GSW raced back out to a 34-26 lead in the closing minutes.
 
The Division II foes led by four at the break, which later turned into JSU's first victory of the year following a halftime deficit. King's big night got jump-started early in the second on back-to-back old fashion three-point plays to push JSU out front, 42-40. Jax State built the margin to as many as eight with 10 minutes remaining at 59-51, but the visitors from Georgia would not go lightly. GSW finished with 17 second-chance points and several of those helped the Hurricane inch their way back to a 71-all tie with 2:31 to play.
 
After a couple of empty possessions each way, GSW reclaimed the lead by two with just over a minute left on the clock. On the ensuing possession, King brought the ball up the floor and took his shot from the left wing when the defense didn't immediately pick him up to knock down a huge triple to put JSU back on top. Once the Hurricanes missed on the next drive down the court, King responded with a dagger floater in the paint in the final seconds. A Gamecock steal and free throws from Potter wrapped up the 78-73 decision with JSU ending on a 7-0 run.
 
The Gamecocks open conference play on Friday evening at The Pete hosting in-state rival North Alabama.