JACKSONVILLE – Jacksonville State grabbed the lead early and held on late to defeat Queens University, 76-69, on Thursday evening at Pete Mathews Coliseum.
 
Needing to win to keep postseason hopes alive, Jax State (11-17, 4-11 ASUN) did just that while shooting 51-percent to beat the Royals (16-12, 6-9 ASUN) in the first0ever meeting between the two schools.
 
Opening their final weekend at home, seniors Demaree King and Skyelar Potter combined for 46 of JSU's 76 points. A critical moment came to open the second half when the duo converted their first five attempts from beyond the arc to turn a four-point lead into a 20-point advantage.
 
King finished with a team-high 27, followed by Potter's 19 and Amanze Ngumezi chipped in another nine. JJ Platt, running the point for a majority of the night to free up King and Potter offensively, collected a team-high seven boards.
 
It took a while for the Gamecock offense to begin clicking with JSU down 13-8 eight minutes into the contest. A free throw by Platt and back-to-back triples from King to get his night going put JSU back in the lead as part of a 9-0 run. Up two with six seconds to play before the half, King raced the length of the court and fed Juwan Perdue for an easy layin just before the halftime horn and the Gamecocks led 35-31 at intermission.
 
Back-to-back triples for Potter straight out of the locker room quickly made it a double digit lead for the Gamecocks, and another basket in the paint by Perdue made it a 10-0 run and forced a Royals timeout just 1:43 into the second half.
 
King stayed hot burying consecutive threes of his own and the Gamecocks soon led 54-34 with just over 15 minutes remaining. Queens trimmed the deficit back to nine at 64-56, where the margin seemingly stayed the final eight minutes until a couple of late treys for Queens in the final 47 seconds tightened things up to 73-69. The Gamecocks secured the win with a trio of free throws in the end, capping a positive night at the stripe that saw JSU connect of 15-of-21 attempts.
 
The Gamecocks host Liberty on Saturday afternoon at 5 p.m. for Senior Day and the final home game of the 2023 season.