FINAL STATS

NORMAL, Ill. – An early Jacksonville State drought and a late Louisiana at Monroe run did the Gamecock men's basketball team in on Friday night, when the Warhawks fought for a 57-50 win on the opening day of the Global Sports Roundball Classic at Illinois State's Redbird Arena.

Senior Nick Murphy became JSU's Division I leader in career rebounds in the first game of the three-day tournament, but a 4-for-24 start for the Gamecocks (1-4) and a 7-0 second half run by the Warhawks (2-3) told the story in the game. The win was the first against a Division I foe this season for ULM and stretched JSU's losing skid to four games.

A native of Bronx, N.Y., Murphy led the Gamecocks with 13 points and six rebounds, passing former Gamecock Rusty Brand as the school's career rebounds leader since moving to Division I in 1995. The 6-foot-4 Murphy now has 546 career boards, three better than Brand's old mark. The 13 points moved the fourth-year forward closer to Walker Russell's Division I scoring record of 1,182, giving him 1,151.

Junior Stephen Hall added 10 points and six boards for JSU, while also blocking a career-high four shots in the loss. Senior Jeremy Bynum scored 11 and grabbed four boards, while junior Dominique Shellman dished six assists but turned it over six times.

Turnovers proved to be costly for the Gamecocks, who committed 13 of their 18 in the second half alone. Those miscues led to 24 of the Warhawks' points, while JSU was only able to turn 19 ULM turnovers into 16 points.

The Warhawks got 16 points from Tommie Sykes, who was only 4-of-11 from the floor but connected on all eight of his free throws. Lawrence Gilbert scored 11 of his 13 points in the second half, while leading scorer Fred Brown pitched in nine. Sykes grabbed eight boards to lead ULM to a 34-29 advantage on the glass.

The Gamecocks couldn't buy a bucket early in the game, connecting on just four of their first 25 attempts from the floor. The drought, and an 11-for-11 first-half effort from the stripe by the Warhawks, allowed ULM to pull out to a 24-12 lead.

The Gamecocks connected on three of their final four shots in the half and went on a 10-2 run to only trail 26-22 going into the locker room. The four-point deficit came despite being outrebounded 27-18 in the first 20 minutes and was credited to a 6-for-27 first half by ULM.

Sykes led all scorers with 11 points, thanks to a 7-for-7 half from the free throw line, while Murphy led JSU with seven first-half points.

The Gamecocks kept clawing to start the second half and finally were able to go ahead 40-39 on a Dominique Shellman basket at the 9:14 mark of the final 20 minutes. JSU's first lead since a 3-2 advantage in the game's first three minutes was short-lived, as three-straight turnovers led to a 7-0 ULM run that gave the Warhawks a 46-40 lead.

A Brown triple with just under the four-minute mark gave ULM a 51-44 lead, one the Gamecocks wouldn't be able to overcome.

JSU will play its second of the three-game tournament on Saturday, when they face South Dakota at 8:35 p.m. The weekend will conclude at 3:35 p.m. on Sunday against host Illinois State.