JACKSONVILLE, Ala. — After coming home from a three-game road trip, the Jax State men's basketball team was happy to be back, and it showed as the Gamecocks routed the Kennesaw State Owls 77-58 inside Pete Mathews Coliseum on Saturday night.

Jax State (13-10, 8-4 CUSA) picked up its largest margin of victory against a Division I opponent this season in the effort, and held Kennesaw State (14-9, 6-6 CUSA) to its second-lowest scoring total all season.

"Once again, we're starting to get better in some areas," head coach Ray Harper said. "I thought we executed the gameplan on the defensive end of the ball about as good as we could. We made some major adjustments to our zone and we implemented it well."

Mostapha El Moutaouakkil led the Gamecocks on the offensive end, scoring 26 points off 8-for-18 shooting from the field to go along with seven rebounds for his 15^th game surpassing the 20-point mark in his career. Additionally, Jaye Nash put together one of the best games of his collegiate career, scoring a career-high 19 points to go with four assists and two steals.

Both squads never gave an inch through the first 11 minutes of play, until an 11-0 run by Jax State from 8:26-4:21 (4:05) broke the game wide open as the Gamecocks claimed a 31-17 lead.
Jax State rode its momentum all the way to halftime buzzer, holding a 37-22 advantage at the break.

El Moutaouakkil poured in 19 of hits points in the first half alone, along with AC Bryant contributing nine in the half off of a trio of three-pointers in the frame.

The second half became a game of runs to begin the closing stanza, meanwhile the Gamecocks were able to tie their biggest lead of 21 points with 10:32 remaining after a pair of free throws by Nash.

Immediately after, however, the Owls were able to cut the deficit down to 11 points with just over six minutes to go, following a 15-5 run from 10:32-6:35 (3:57). The margin would be the lowest scoring margin between the two teams in the entire second half.

Down the stretch, it was all Gamecocks as Jacoby Hill and Nash combined to score 18 of Jax State's final 20 points of the evening to come away with a resounding victory on its home floor.

"We did what we needed to, to get out of here and have a good win this evening," Harper said.

Harper's squad had other notable contributions from Iaroslav Niagu who finished with four points, 12 rebounds and four blocks, along with Marcus Fitzgerald Jr. who scored 12 points in his 15 minutes of action to put him over 1,300 points in his collegiate career.

"[Iaroslav] just gets better every day," Harper said. "I think it's a confidence thing, he believes in himself right now. He's starting to see that he's capable of some of the things I've been on him about for a year and a half now."

The Gamecocks return home again next week to take on UTEP on Wednesday, Jan. 11 at 6 p.m.