Clay County Times

Jacksonville University men's basketball used an 18-0 first half run to erase a six-point deficit and withstood a late run by ULM to win 66-55 on Tuesday afternoon at Fant-Ewing Coliseum.

The Dolphins (7-3) had four scorers in double-figures and held the Warhawks to 5-25 shooting from behind the arc in another stifling, balanced team win.

The game started off as a defensive slugfest, with the two teams combining to score only 16 points the first eight minutes of the game. At that point, ULM led by six, 11-5, when the game turned in favor of the Dolphins.

Gyasi Powell fed Dylan O'Hearn for a layup to spark the game's defining run, with the Dolphins scoring multiple times in the fast break, and Powell scoring four-straight to put JU up for good, 13-11 with 7:17 to play. Kevion Nolan hit a three-pointer, Osayi Osifo flushed a dunk and made a pair of free throws, followed by a three of his own for a personal 7-0 run to extend the lead to 23-11 with 3:55 left in the half before ULM scored again. They were held without a for almost eight minutes of game action and went 0-10 from the field over that stretch.

The lead was 12 at the half, and the Warhawks put together a few spirited runs in the second half to try and make it interesting. A steal and layup cut the JU lead to nine close to three minutes into the half, but Nolan hit an offensive putback, Jordan Davis swished a three and O'Hearn added one of his own from distant to quickly balloon the lead to 16, 40-24 with 14:16 to play.

JU pushed the lead back out to 16 a few minutes later, but it stayed around 10 for much of the second half until a bizarre sequence gave ULM a last chance. The Dolphins missed a corner three out of the final media timeout and the Warhawks quickly pushed in transition, getting a dunk and drawing a foul on Osifo. The referees went to the monitor and assessed a Flagrant 1 foul to Osifo. ULM made both free throws, and then sank a three-pointer on the ensuing possession for a seven-point swing to cut the JU lead to 57-51.

Nolan buried a three to push the lead back to three-possessions the next time down the floor and the Dolphins made all four free throws down the stretch to ice the win.

UP NEXT

Jacksonville heads on the road one final time in the non-conference to face Notre Dame on Dec. 27. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. in South Bend. 

Original source can be found here.