JACKSONVILLE, Ala. – Southeast Missouri (10-13, 4-6) opened the second half of Ohio Valley Conference play with a 78-60 loss to Jacksonville State (16-7, 7-3) Saturday night at Pete Mathews Coliseum.

SEMO scored under 70 points in a game for the fourth time this season and turned the ball over an OVC single-game high 17 times.

The Redhawks started strong by making seven of its first 12 field goals for a 58 percent clip. Denzel Mahoney knocked down his first three 3-pointers of the game en route to scoring 13 first-half points.

Later in the half, Daniel Simmons buried a 3-pointer to give the Redhawks a 16-13 edge after Mahoney tied the game. The Gamecocks then answered with a 14-3 run to pull ahead, 27-19, with 8:49 remaining.

SEMO went without a field goal for the final 6:33 of the first half and trailed, 39-27, at the intermission. 

JSU, which never let its lead dip below double figures the rest of the way, opened the second half on an 11-4 run to build a 50-31 advantage with 13:39 to go.

Two free throws by Marlon Hunter gave the Gamecocks their largest lead of the night at 76-55 at the 1:45 mark.

Hunter scored a game-high 22 points in 21 minutes off the bench for JSU. He shot 9-of-12 from the field and drained 4-of-5 treys. Four others, including Jamall Gregory (12), Jason Burnell (11), Malcolm Drumwright (11) and Christian Cunningham (10 pts., 15 reb.) joined Hunter in double figures.

The Gamecocks shot 49.1 percent (28-of-57) from the floor and outrebounded SEMO, 39-26, with 14 of its boards coming on the offensive end.

Mahoney finished with 17 points to lead the Redhawks. Justin Carpenter followed with 12 points. 

SEMO shot 38.3 percent (18-of-47) and scored under 70 points for the fifth-straight time in its series against JSU.

The Redhawks return home to host rival Murray State on Feb. 1. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m., CT, at the Show Me Center.