JACKSONVILLE, Ala. — The Jax State men's basketball team put up its third highest scoring output in conference play this season, defeating the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders 75-58 inside Pete Mathews Coliseum on Friday night.

The Gamecocks (10-9, 5-3 CUSA) controlled both ends of the floor from tip-off to the final buzzer, scoring from everywhere on the floor all night long and holding the Blue Raiders (11-8, 5-3 CUSA) to a season-low 58 points.

"I thought we had some stretches in the first half that were really good and then we got a little complacent in the half court defensively," head coach Ray Harper said. "I thought we responded in the second half, our execution was really good and we had some really good production from a lot of different guys tonight."

While the contest began at a slow pace with both teams trading baskets through the first five minutes, it didn't last long as the Gamecocks went on a 16-0 run from 15:27-10:08 (5:19), including seven of those points from Jacoby Hill, to quickly jump out to a 24-9 lead.

However, the momentum quickly shifted elsewhere as Middle Tennessee rallied back, outscoring Jax State 22-15 through the final 9:41 to make it a 39-34 game at the half.

Still with a slight edge on the scoreboard, the Gamecocks turned up the heat offensively coming out of the break as Mostapha El Moutaouakkil went on an 8-2 run by himself through the first 3:21 of the second frame to give his team a 47-36 advantage with 16:39 remaining.

From there, the points kept on pouring in for Jax State as AC Bryant drilled a trio of three-pointers in a row, along with Emondrek Erkins-Ford adding in an additional six points in the latter part of the half.

The Gamecocks claimed their biggest lead of 19 points, coming with 6:40 left in the closing stanza, following a bucket by Jaye Nash to wrap up an 11-2 run from 10:32-6:40 (3:52).

Harper's squad had three players scoring in double figures, highlighted by Bryant's 22 points off 7-for-9 shooting from the field, including a 6-for-7 shooting performance from three. El Moutaouakkil trailed with 20 points and Erkins-Ford rounded out the trio with 14 points off the bench.

"We had a lot of guys that stepped up tonight," Harper said. "AC was good tonight, Mo gave us some good minutes, Jacoby continues to play well."

On the defensive end of the floor, Jax State was just as successful, holding Middle Tennessee to just 21-for-55 (38 percent) shooting from the floor and 8-for-23 (35 percent) shooting from three.

"We have a lot of room for improvement, but to hold this team to 58 points is quite an accomplishment," Harper said. "Other than the last four to five minutes, I thought we did a really good job of moving our feet."

Next up, Jax State begins a three-game road trip to continue conference play, starting with traveling to FIU next Wednesday, Jan. 28, to take on the Panthers at 6 p.m. Central.