JACKSON, Miss. | Jackson State avenged an early season road with a 91-86 victory over Bethune-Cookman in Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) action at the Lee E. Williams Athletics & Assembly Center on ESPNU.

Jackson State (9-17, 8-5 SWAC) knocked of the league-leading Wildcats, and pulled to within two games of the conference lead after sweeping the state of Florida this weekend in Jackson. The Tigers used three players with 20-plus points in the game to hold off Bethune-Cookman (13-13, 10-3 SWAC), led by Daeshun Ruffin with 28 points and six assists as he hit 15 -of-16 from the free throw line. He was joined in double figures by Jayme Mitchell Jr. with 21 points and eight rebounds, while Dorian McMillian added 20 points and seven rebounds in the win.

The two teams traded the lead until Jackson State was able to start pulling away with just under five minutes to play. They were able to build the lead to 81-75 before Bethune-Cookman pulled to within two at 81-79 with 3:31 to play, before Jackson State used a pair of free throws from Ruffin with 2:13 remaining to build an 85-81 lead. The Wildcats were able to pull to within two again, but it was a free throw from Dionjahe Thomas and a corner three from McMillian that put the game away with under 30 seconds remaining,

Jackson State finished the night shooting 48.2 (27-of-56) percent shooting from the floor and 50.0 (10-of-20) percent from beyond the arc. They also shot 77.1 (27-of-35) percent from the free throw line. Meanwhile, Bethune-Cookman shot 46.8 (29-of-62) percent from the floor and just 17.6 (3-of-17) percent from beyond the arc. They also finished the night shooting 75.8 (25-of-33) percent from the free throw line.

Jakobi Heady and Daniel Rouzan led Bethune-Cookman with 25 points each.

Inside the Numbers
Jackson State shot 43.3 (13-of-30) percent from the floor and 46.2 (6-of-13) percent from beyond the arc, while also shooting 63.6 (7-of-11) percent from the free throw line in the first half. Meanwhile, Bethune-Cookman shot 41.4 (12-of-29) percent from the floor and 22.2 (2-of-9) percent from beyond the arc. They also shot 64.7 (11-of-17) percent from the free throw line.

The Tigers hot 53.8 (14-of-26) percent from the floor in the second half and 57.1 (4-of-7) percent from beyond the arc. They also shot 83.3 (20-of-24) percent from the free throw line, while Bethune-Cookman shot 51.5 (17-of-33) percent from the floor and just 12.5 (1-of-8) percent from beyond the arc. They also shot 87.5 (14-of-16) percent from the free throw line.

Up Next
Jackson State travels to Alcorn State on Saturday.

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