JACKSONVILLE — It was a tale of two halves Saturday afternoon at the Pete Mathews Coliseum.
 
Jax State (15-7, 7-2 CUSA) shot 53% and outscored Liberty by 17 points in the second half of a 72-61 victory to record their sixth-consecutive victory and improve to 7-2 in Conference USA and maintain sole possession of first place in the league.
 
"I was disappointed how we started the game, but we regrouped," said coach Ray Harper. "I thought the second half we stuck to the script about as good as you can stick to it to hold those guys to 23 points."
 
Liberty (17-5, 5-4 CUSA) shot 46.7% (14-30) in the first half and connected on eight 3-pointers to set the tone and held a six-point lead after 20 minutes of play. Meanwhile, the Gamecocks fought offensive struggles and didn't connect on their first 3-point shot until Jao Ituka was successful at the 3:02 mark of the first.
 
Ituka had nine of his 13 in the first half.
 
Liberty had a 7-0 lead at the under-16 media timeout after the Gamecocks failed to score on their first six possessions of the game. The lead grew to double-digits on a 3-point play by Liberty's Zach Cleveland at the 14:31 mark to make it 12-2.
 
Jax State was able to answer with an 8-0 run, fueled by Liberty's first three turnovers of the game. Defensively, the Gamecocks held the Flames scoreless for 3:12 and got within three at 15-12 on a Michael Hogue layup with 10:54 left in the opening half.
 
Hogue scored 10 of his 12 in the first 20 minutes.
 
On three occasions in the first half, the Gamecocks were able to get back within a possession but the Flames answered with a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession each time. Consecutive 3-pointers at the 8:23 mark and 7:36 mark pushed the advantage back to nine and forced a Jax State timeout.
 
Jaron Pierre got the hosts within four on a right wing 3-pointer, assisted by Ituka who cleared the defender on a nifty head fake. The Flames got a layup on the half's final possession to take a 38-32 lead to the locker room.
 
The Gamecocks were successful on each of their first four field goal attempts of the second half, including a banked-in floating jumper in the lane by Marcellus Brigham Jr. which he was fouled on and converted the old fashioned 3-point play on to give Jax State a 44-42 advantage at the 16:20 mark.
 
Brigham finished with 10 on 4-of-6 shooting.
 
Quel'Ron House's jumper in the lane at the 14:37 mark made it a 10-0 run to open the half and pushed the lead to four at the media timeout. Mason Nicholson answered Liberty's basket at the 14:19 mark with a slam, and one to go up 49-44 with 13:52 to play.
 
The Flames got back in rhythm and converted on four straight field goals, but the Gamecocks were able to keep pace and took a 58-52 lead to the media timeout at the 7:48 mark.
 
House bagged a right baseline jumper, then stole a pass and scored on a layup on back-to-back possessions to push the lead to nine at 64-55 with 4:47 to go. A 3-pointer on the next possession got the Flames back in the game.
 
House finished with a team-high 18 points, just one shy of matching his season-high with 16 coming in the second half.
 

"We thought he could get downhill," said Harper of House. "He needed a little motivation in the second half. He was big for us. I did not talk to him. I think I had every other assistant talk to him. I know what he's capable of. He's gonna be a special player. He's a good one right now, but he's got a chance to be special."

 
Despite going the final 4:15 of the game without a field goal, Jax State finished the game 13-of-14 at the free throw line including a six-for-6 effort in the final 62 seconds.
 
In the second half, Liberty shot just 34% from the field and were just 2-of-15 from 3-point range.
 
The win pushed Jax State to 9-0 at the Pete Mathews Coliseum this year and will host Middle Tennessee on Thursday at 6 p.m. to begin its second lap through the conference.