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Men's Basketball

Gamecocks Come Up Short In 60-47 Loss to Illinois State

FINAL STATS

NORMAL, Ill. – An Illinois State stretch in the middle of the game proved too much for the Jacksonville State men's basketball team to overcome on Sunday, when the Gamecocks fell 60-47 to the Redbirds in the final game of the Global Sports Roundball Classic.

The Gamecocks (2-5) controlled the tempo early and led for much of the first half, but the Redbirds (5-1) scored the final six points of the first half and the first five of the second half to build a nine-point lead. That would be too much for JSU to overcome, as the host team won its home holiday tournament for the third-straight season.

With a roster with just one player taller than 6-foot-6, the Gamecocks held their own against a Redbird squad that features six players at 6-foot-7 or taller. JSU got outrebounded by one, 33-32, but 14 turnovers led to a 14-1 advantage for ISU in points off turnovers.

JSU got 16 points from senior Nick Murphy and 15 from junior Stephen Hall. A senior from Bronx, N.Y., Murphy scored eight in each half and inched closer to Jacksonville State's Division I scoring record. He now has 1,179 career points, just three shy of Walker Russell's Division I record set from 2003-06. Already the school's Division I leader in career rebounds, Murphy pulled in a team-high seven on Sunday and was named to the all-tournament team.

Hall, a Birmingham, Ala., native, scored 11 of his 16 in the first half, thanks to being successful on his first five attempts from the floor. He also grabbed four rebounds in the loss. Senior Sean Thurston and junior Dominique Shellman each added four boards for JSU.

The Redbirds got 11 points from Justin Clark and 10 each from Alex Rubin and Blake Mishler. Jax State held Jackie Carmichael, ISU's leading scorer coming in, scoreless on an 0-for-7 day from the floor. The 6-foot-9 Carmichael grabbed just one rebound, but Tony Lewis picked up his slack with a game-high nine.

The Gamecocks used a stingy defense to open the game, keeping ISU from getting in a groove early. While the Redbirds were missing 17 of their first 23 attempts from the floor, Hall went to work for JSU. He connected on all five of his first-half shots, including one from behind the arc, to lead all scorers with 11 points at the half.

The half saw three lead changes and four ties, but two late ISU treys turned a 19-17 JSU lead into a 23-19 Redbird advantage at the intermission.

JSU also controlled the glass in the first 20 minutes, grabbing 18 boards to ISU's 14, but seven turnovers led to seven Redbird points and proved to be the difference in the first half. Rubin made a pair of 3-pointers to lead the Redbirds with six points.

Only three JSU players had points in the first half, with Murphy and junior B.J. Miller adding six and two, respectively, to Hall's total.

Illinois State continued the run by scoring the first five points of the second half. The stretch ended on a Shellman jumper with 16:14 to play but gave the Redbirds a 28-19 lead.

The Redbirds started taking advantage of JSU miscues and connecting on the offensive end to maintain their distance on the scoreboard. The Gamecocks would never get closer than six points the rest of the way.

The Gamecocks will play their fourth road game in six days on Wednesday, when they take on UAB at Bartow Arena in Birmingham. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m., and the game will be broadcast live on the JSU Radio Network with Mike Parris calling the action.
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