LOUISVILLE, Ky. — In a battle for ASUN West supremacy, Jacksonville State took control early and never lost its grip in defeating the Bellarmine University men's basketball team 82-67 Sunday night in Freedom Hall.

Senior guard CJ Fleming poured in a career- and game-high 26 points and senior forward Ethan Claycomb added 13 points for Bellarmine (16-12, 10-4 ASUN), but Jacksonville State (18-9, 11-3) shot 55.4 percent from the floor and drained 15 3-pointers.

Four players scored in double figures for Jacksonville State, including 22 from Jalen Gibbs and 21 from Darian Adams. That duo combined to go 10-for-21 from 3-point range. Jalen Finch went 2-for-3 from deep in scoring 17 points, and Demaree King knocked down 3-of-5 from long range in netting 11 points.

Jacksonville State's offense rarely faltered. The Gamecocks shot 53.3 percent in the first half and 57.7 percent in the second stanza. JSU canned nine 3-pointers before the intermission and six more after the break.

"Give them credit," Knights Coach Scott Davenport said. "We were short on close-outs, weren't forcing them to shoot off the bounce. With great 3-point shooting teams — and they are — you can't let them get started, and they did. To their credit."

Indeed, Jacksonville State hit its first three 3-point attempts in racing out to a 12-2 lead a little over three minutes into the game. The Gamecocks maintained the double-digit advantage for most of the first half and finished strong as the lead ballooned to 18 at 45-27 at halftime.

In the second half, Jacksonville State picked up right where it left off, hitting its first five shots — including three 3-pointers — to open the stanza. The Gamecocks led by 22 after that succession of baskets and were never threatened thereafter.

It certainly didn't help that Bellarmine was coming off a taxing road schedule — the Knights were one of only two teams in the league with three consecutive road games — and three primary players were dealing with non-Covid-related illnesses.

"We were an undermanned team tonight, and that's nobody's fault," Davenport said. "It's a tough night. When somebody's a little under the weather, you've got to do more — and I don't mean shoot more. You've got to rebound, run harder, create deflections — that's where we came up short. We'll learn from that, we'll move forward."

Fleming scored at least 20 points for the fifth straight game and seventh in the last eight contests. He was 5-for-11 from 3-point range and 9-for-16 overall.

"His mark won't be just measured in statistics. Ever," Davenport said of Fleming. "He has raised the bar in this program. It's impossible to express how much I love and appreciate coaching CJ Fleming."

Bellarmine will host Lipscomb at 7 p.m. (ET) Wednesday in the regular-season home finale. The Knights will honor their seniors.

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