JACKSONVILLE, Ala. ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­—  The Jax State men's basketball team dropped its first loss at home in conference play on Wednesday night, falling 77-62 to the Sam Houston Bearkats inside Pete Mathews Coliseum.

The Gamecocks (8-9, 3-3 CUSA) struggled to convert from the field throughout the evening, shooting 22-for-55 (40 percent) from the field and 6-for-20 (30 percent) from beyond the arc compared to Sam Houston (10-7, 2-4 CUSA) converting 31-of-54 (57 percent) from the floor and 10-for-22 (46 percent) from three.

"I told them that you create good habits in practice and at this time of year, you're either getting better or getting worse, not staying the same," head coach Ray Harper said. "And I thought the last two days, for whatever reason, we had gone the other direction."

Jax State found itself down by eight points less than three minutes into the contest before an eventual 11-2 run by the Gamecocks, sparked by a three-pointer by AC Bryant, gave Harper's squad a 13-12 lead at the 9:00 mark, its first lead of the game.

The lead was short lived, however, as the Bearkats responded immediately with a 12-0 run of its own from 8:17-6:10 (2:07) to flip the scoreboard completely and give Sam Houston an 11-point advantage with 6:10 remaining.

Despite Mostapha El Moutaouakkil's seven points and six rebounds in the opening stanza, the Bearkats remained ahead, 34-22 at the break. Coming out of halftime, the Gamecocks found the offensive spark it had been looking for, outscoring the Bearkats 31-21 through the first 11:20 to cut the deficit down to just two points, 55-53, at the 8:40 mark.

However, once again, Sam Houston rallied back and outscored the Gamecocks 22-9 through the final 8:17 to secure its second conference victory of the season.

"We dug ourselves the hole, got it back within two and then when they missed a shot, we didn't box out and they got a put back. We almost get a steal, we don't come up with it and then they bang a three. Every 50/50 ball, they beat us to and it is what it is."

Jax State's duo of El Moutaouakkil (17 points) and Bryant (14 points) led the way offensively for the Gamecocks, as the pair combined for 31 of the team's 62 points. El Moutaouakkil tallied his fifth double double of the season and his second in a row as the senior grabbed 10 rebounds in the losing effort. Bryant buried four three-pointers out of 10 attempts in the matchup, achieving the mark for the sixth time this season.

The Gamecocks forced 12 Sam Houston turnovers on the defensive end, with four different players swiping away two steals including Bryant, El Moutaouakkil, Jacoby Hill and Jaye Nash.

Jax State continues its home stretch on Saturday, facing off against Louisiana Tech at 4 p.m. on ESPN+.