SUNDAY'S SCORES
@Jacksonville State 81, Fort Valley State 68
@Evansville 80,
Southeast Missouri 65
JACKSONVILLE STATE 81, FORT VALLEY STATE 68
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - The Jacksonville State men's basketball team got its first win of the season on Sunday with an 81-68 victory over Fort Valley State at Pete Mathews Coliseum.
The Gamecocks (1-1) have nine newcomers, which is tied for the seventh most at the Division I level, but those players helped lead the way in James Green's seventh home opening win in eight seasons at JSU.
Jared Hamilton, a freshman out of Charlotte, N.C., scored 14 points and brought down a career-high 13 rebounds in 31 minutes as a starter. It's the first double-double recorded by a Gamecock player since D.J. Felder had 10 points and 13 rebounds back on January 3, 2015, which is only a 17-game span. Hamilton also blocked two shots in the win.
Erik Durham, a transfer from Lamar State College in Port Arthur, Texas, also had a career performance during the game. The Springfield, Mo., native scored 15 points while bringing down six rebounds, both career highs, in a game-high 35 minutes of action. Christian Cunningham, a freshman from Albuquerque, N.M., added a six points and four rebounds, both of which were career-highs.
Returning guards JaQuail Townser and Malcolm Drumwright picked up right where they left off Friday afternoon in the Gamecocks' season-opener at Central Michigan. Townser scored 15 points to go along with five assists and five steals in 28 minutes. Drumwright followed his career-best 26-point performance against the Chippewas with a 14-point game against the Wildcats. He made a career-high nine free throws on 10 attempts, also a career-best for sophomore guard, to go along with his five assists.
Jeremy Watson added nine points, thanks to 5-of-8 from the free throw line, and brought down three rebounds in 20 minutes of action off the bench.
After taking a 38-37 lead over FVSU into the locker rooms, the Gamecocks found a way to outscore the Wolves 43-31 during the second half, which is due in large part to their 20-of-25 shooting from the free throw line during the game's final 20 minutes.
For Fort Valley State, Tyler Edwards and Jaylon McMillan both recorded team-highs with 11 points. Edwards had four rebounds and four assists to McMillan's two and two respectively. Dareial Franklin, a Gadsden, Ala., native, added nine points and six rebounds. Ralph Wilson had six points and three rebounds while J.R. Bryant, Kris Bell and Eugene Thomas all scored five points apiece.
EVANSVILLE 80, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 65
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - Evansville (1-0) shot 82.4 percent at the free throw line in an 80-65 win over Southeast Missouri (0-2) Sunday afternoon at the Ford Center.
In a game flooded with 50 fouls between the two teams, UE made 28-of-34 free throws en route to its first victory of the season.
After a close first half, Southeast pulled to within two points on three occasions in the opening 5:23 of the second stanza.
Sikeston native J.T. Jones, who made his first career start, knocked down a 3-pointer on back-to-back possessions to cut UE's lead to 46-44 with 17:51 left to play.
Isiah Jones' jumper diced the Purple Aces lead to 48-46 shortly after that. Following a UE turnover, Jones had a chance to put the Redhawks ahead, but missed a 3-pointer.
Joel Angus III's layup made it a two-point game again, this time at 50-48 with 14:37 remaining, but Jaylon Brown answered with a layup.
Ahead, 57-52, with 10:34 left to play, UE went on a 15-2 run to pull away for good.
Mislav Brzoja scored five points during that jaunt which ended with D.J. Balentine's two free throws giving the Purple Aces a 72-54 advantage at the 6:40 mark. The Redhawks made just 1-of-6 field goals during that stretch.
Balentine scored a game-high 20 points and Egidiju Mockevicius added a double-double 18 points and 14 rebounds to lead UE. Ten of Balentine's points came at the free throw line, where he went 10-of-12.
Brzoja also contributed a double-double 16 points and 12 rebounds off the bench.
In addition to its strong free throw shooting, UE outrebounded Southeast, 47-30. The Redhawks shot just 45.5 percent (10-of-22) at the charity stripe.
Angus led three players with double figures in the scoring column for Southeast. He finished with 18 points and a team-high seven rebounds.
Antonius Cleveland followed with 14 points and J.T. Jones pitched in 10. Jones also grabbed six rebounds in 22 minutes.
Southeast shot 42.4 percent (25-of-59) from the field on the day.