JACKSONVILLE, Ala — The Jax State men's basketball team buried 10 three-pointers on its way to a 64-60 victory against the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs Saturday night inside Pete Mathews Coliseum.

The Gamecocks (9-9, 4-3 CUSA) took advantage of a hot start on both ends of the floor and kept the momentum from start to finish, leading Louisiana Tech (10-8, 3-4 CUSA) for the entirety of the contest.

"I felt like we played better; I felt like we got some things corrected Thursday and Friday," head coach Ray Harper said. "I thought from the start, our energy on the defensive side of the ball was better and we shared the ball well; In the first eight minutes we had five assists."

Harper's squad came out ready to attack, as Jax State opened the first 4:42 on a 16-6 run, forcing a pair turnovers in the span. Mostapha El Moutaouakkil recorded 10 of the Gamecocks first 14 points of the game and helped set the tone early.

From there, Jax State held a double-digit lead until the 3:47 mark in the opening half after a quick 7-0 run from the Bulldogs down the stretch cut the lead down to seven. However, the late spurt didn't shake the Gamecocks as they entered halftime with a 34-27 lead.

After a blitzing start to the first half by Jax State, it was Louisiana Tech who came out of the break on a mission, forcing three turnovers from the Gamecocks and cutting the lead down to five points, 40-35, in the first 5:19 of the second half.

Despite the hot start from the Bulldogs, Jax State went on its biggest run of the night, scoring 12 straight points from 13:36-8:59 (4:37), featuring back-to-back threes by AC Bryant to blossom the lead to an 18-point margin down the stretch.

However, momentum quickly shifted once more as Louisiana Tech proceeded to outscore the Gamecocks 20-5 for the next eight minutes, trimming the lead to a 60-57 score with just 55 seconds remaining.

After weathering the late run, Harper's squad was able to sink its final four free throws in a row to secure the victory on its home floor.

"Late in the game, we had a couple key possessions that we needed," Harper said. "You have to know how to finish teams and we had a chance to finish them and we just couldn't put them away."

Jax State's starting duo of El Moutaouakkil (18 points) and Bryant (15) combined for over half of the team's scoring with a combined 33 points, meanwhile Emondrek Erkins-Ford made a significant impact off the bench with 11 points to his name.

The Gamecocks had no trouble sharing the wealth offensively, tallying 11 assists as a team on 20 made field goals with Jacoby Hill (4 assists) and Jaye Nash (3 assists) accounting for seven of them.

Jax State will wrap up the final game of its three-game homestand next Saturday, Jan. 24 against the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders at 4 p.m. Central on ESPN+