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NORFOLK, Va. — Nick Murphy scored 18 points off the bench and Geddes Robinson added 17 as Jacksonville State spoiled Norfolk State's home opener and sent the Spartans to their fourth consecutive loss, 80-61, on Tuesday night at Echols Hall.

The Gamecocks (5-1) shot 58.5 percent from the floor for the game, including 78 percent in the second half, to win their fifth straight.

Michael Deloach (Rocky Mount, N.C.) led all players with 25 points for the Spartans (1-4). It was the fourth straight game in which he has led the Spartans in scoring.

Neither team led by more than six points in a first half that was plagued by 27 combined fouls. NSU led by four, 24-20, after two Deloach free throws with 6:57 left in the opening stanza. But JSU went on an 8-0 run to take a lead it would hold the rest of the way. Murphy capped the spurt with a layup with 3:28 left in the half. Murphy then sent the Gamecocks into the intermission by making 1-of-2 free throws for a 35-29 lead, their largest of the half.

A jumper by Jeremy Bynum gave JSU its first double-digit lead at 42-31 with 16:53 remaining in the game. NSU got as close as four, 52-48, on a follow-slam by Brandon Monroe (Raeford, N.C.) eight minutes later. But the Gamecocks held NSU scoreless over the next two and a half minutes, and Robinson scored inside to push the JSU lead back into double digits at 58-48 with 6:40 left to go.

Brandon Crawford added 13 points for the Gamecocks. He, Robinson and Murphy combined to shoot 19-of-26 from the floor. JSU shot 18-of-23 from the floor in the final 20 minutes.

Kyle O'Quinn (Jamaica, N.Y.) added seven points for the Spartans, who shot 48 percent from the floor but were hampered by 19 turnovers.

The Spartans open MEAC play this Saturday at North Carolina A&T. Tip-off is at 4 p.m.