RICHMOND, Ky. – Freshman Adam Leonard tallied his fifth 20-point performance of the year to lift the Eastern Kentucky University men's basketball team to a 63-51 victory over Jacksonville State Thursday night in McBrayer Arena. The Colonels (17-9, 12-6 OVC) have now won seven straight games to move into a tie for second place in the Ohio Valley Conference.

Leonard scored 14 of his game-high 20 points in the second stanza while going 4-for-8 (50 percent) from behind the arc for the game. Junior Darnell Dialls was the only other Colonel in double figures as the forward recorded 12 points. Meanwhile, junior Jamaal Douglas came off the bench to chip in with eight points and a season-high eight rebounds.

For Jacksonville State (8-19, 6-12), forward Courtney Bradley registered 16 points and eight rebounds. Erik Adams finished one rebound shy of his fourth double-double of the year (10 points, nine rebounds).

The visiting Gamecocks opened an early 12-point lead, 23-11, thanks to the three-point shooting by Adams and Will Ginn. However, Eastern rallied at the end of the first half, tallying the final eight points capped by sophomore Mike Rose's steal and dunk with two seconds remaining, to cut the deficit to one at the break, 28-27.

After JSU's Nick Smith hit a three-pointer at the start of the second half, the Colonels rolled off the ensuing 13 points. Senior Julian Mascoll's three-pointer at the top of the key put Eastern Kentucky ahead for the first time in the contest, 32-31. Mascoll followed up with a steal and breakaway dunk to stretch the Colonel advantage to three points. Back-to-back Leonard three-pointers finished the EKU run and made the score, 40-31.

Jacksonville State regrouped with an 11-2 spurt to even the score at 40- and 42-all, but Eastern never relinquished the lead. A pair of free throws from Dialls and a Leonard jumper gave the Colonels some breathing room at 46-42. A technical foul on the Gamecock bench allowed EKU to net two free throws with 3:15 left to stretch its advantage to six points, 52-46. Eastern Kentucky hit 15-of-16 (93.8 percent) free throw attempts in the second half and 11-of-12 (91.7 percent) in the final three minutes to hold off Jacksonville State.

Eastern Kentucky finished its 2006-07 home schedule with a record of 10-3 in McBrayer Arena, marking the third time in the last four seasons the Colonels have registered double-figure home victories. EKU also improved to 4-0 all-time versus the Gamecocks at home.

The Colonels next step out of conference play to face former OVC foe Youngstown State as part of the ESPNU BracketBusters series on Saturday, Feb. 17, in Youngstown. Game time is slated for 4:25 p.m.