Jacksonville University recently issued the following announcement.
Jacksonville University men's basketball battled all evening, but ultimately fell to Georgia, 69-58, on Tuesday at Stegeman Coliseum.
The Dolphins (4-3) led by as many as five in the first half, but shooting droughts ultimately were their undoing.
JU trailed 4-0 before Jordan Davis made a layup and then drew a foul, making both free throws to tie it. George Pridgett drained a left-wing three to put the Dolphins up 7-4, and they maintained the lead for the next 7:20, consistently forcing one-and-done possessions by the Bulldogs.
Georgia took the lead again for good on a pair of free throws with 7:50 to play in the half, and the two teams traded buckets over the next several minutes until the Bulldogs sank their first three of the game with 3:38 left in the half to push the advantage to seven, 27-20. Osayi Osifo scored the next four for Jacksonville to stay within striking distance, but a Georgia three-pointer with 40 seconds to play in the opening period pushed its advantage to eight, largest of the night that point, and they led 32-24 at the break.
The second half got off to a rocky start for Jacksonville offensively. The Dolphins missed its first 11 shots from the floor to open the half, relying on four combined made free throws by Gyasi Powell, Marsh and Osifo for its only points over the first 9:30 of the period. Georgia pushed the lead to 15 over that stretch, but JU switched to a 3-2 zone that stifled the Bulldog offense for a long stretch to keep the game from getting out of hand.
Kevion Nolan, in his return to the lineup after missing the last five games due to injury, swished in a short jumper to jump start the offense, which proceeded to shot 47 percent from the field the rest of the way.
Marsh followed with a layup through contact and completed a three-point play to cut it to 12, made two more free throws after that and Tyreese Davis swished a corner three to bring JU within single-digits, 47-39 with 9:23 left.
After a pair of Georgia free throws, Tommy Bruner made a three in the same left corner to get it to seven, 49-42, but that is as close as the Dolphins would get the rest of the night. Georgia answered with a three to push it back to 10 with 8:07 to go and the teams continued to trade points throughout the rest of the game, with JU hitting field goals and Georgia salting it away at the free throw line late.
UP NEXT
Jacksonville returns home to host UNCW on Saturday at 3 p.m. Admission is free at Swisher Gymnasium for the contest. The Dolphins look to stay unbeaten at home.
NUMBERS YOU SHOULD KNOW
- Mike Marsh set a new career-high in scoring with 15 points, and also recorded his first career double-double, adding a career-best 10 rebounds
- Osayi Osifo had 11 points for his fourth double-figure scoring game of the season
- Both Rod Brown and Gyasi Powell made their first free throws as Dolphins
- Tommy Bruner had a season-high four assists
- Kevion Nolan had five points, three rebounds and three assists in 21 minutes in his first action since being injured in the season opener Nov. 9
- JU outrebounded its opponent for the seventh straight game to start the year
Original source can be found here.
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