JACKSONVILLE—Mostapha El Moutaouakkil registered a double-double in his first game with the Red-and-White to help Jax State come away with a 117-63 victory over Oakwood on opening night.
 
The senior from Morocco scored 27 points and hauled in 10 rebounds in 21 minutes of play.
 
Jax State took a 14-2 lead at the 16:19 mark, highlighted by an and-one layup by Mostapha El Moutaouakkil which was part of a 9-0 run by the hosts. The Gamecocks were fueled in the early going by their outside shooting, connecting on four of their first seven from bonus range in the first five minutes of the contest.
 
"We have to be better in the half court," said coach Ray Harper of the team's defense. "When they went zone, we haven't done a lot with zone, and I wasn't going to let them run any sets that we got quick hitters, you got to figure it out. And we did. We fired up a bunch of threes, I think we took 19 shots, and 13 of them were threes when they went zone."
 
El Moutaouakkil helped provide a spark when he returned to the lineup when Jax State went through a four-minute scoring draught featuring three turnovers and saw Oakwood get back within 10. He scored four points during a 10-4 run that helped Jax State go up 34-18 with 8:08 left in the first.
 
A 10-0 run spanning nearly three minutes saw the Gamecocks go up 24 with 5:41 left on a Toby Nnadozie fast break jumper to make it 42-18 Jax State.
 
Nnadozie finished with 14 points, four rebounds, and two assists.
 
Jax State held its biggest lead of the half on its final make of the period when Jaye Nash's layup went through with 16 seconds left in the half for a 52-25 halftime advantage.
 
El Moutaouakkil picked up where he left off after the intermission, connecting on each of his first three shots and scoring Jax State's first seven points of the half and had four rebounds in the first four minutes.
 
The Jax State advantage hit 39 with 13:10 to play on a pair of free throws by Thomas Tut. A 16-1 run over the final 2:15 helped create some separation at the end.
 
Jamar Franklin added 14 points, and freshman Jacoby Hill chipped in 11 points, three rebounds, and two assists in his collegiate debut.
 
Marcus Fitzgerald scored his first basket in 605 days after missing last season with an injury, and finished with 12 points, going 2-of-4 from 3-point range.
 
Jax State made a living at the rim, outscoring Oakwood 50-22 in the paint and winning the rebounding battle 62-30. The 21 offensive rebounds by the Gamecocks led to 31 second chance points.
 
The Gamecocks will be back in action next Monday at the Pete Mathews Coliseum for their Education Day game against Reinhardt. Tipoff is at 11 a.m.