JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – For the first time since 2010, Jacksonville University men's basketball advanced to the ASUN Championship Semifinals. The Dolphins rode a record-setting night from Jace Hogan to an 87-68 win over Kennesaw State on Monday night at Swisher Gym.

"I'm really proud of our guy's effort," said Head Coach Tony Jasick. "Kennesaw State had been playing really well and I thought we were pretty good defensively tonight."

Hogan scored early and often, pouring in a career-high 39, a program postseason tournament record, to pace JU, who led by eight at halftime and never looked back.

"My teammates have been finding me, putting me in good positions to score the ball," said the junior from Melbourne, Fla. "Even if I miss a few shots, they keep telling me to shoot it, so they get the credit for that."

A back and forth affair to start finally saw the scales tip slightly towards JU when the lead grew to two possessions for the first time all night on a Devin Harris free throw to make it 24-20 with 7:01 to play in the first. The Dolphins maintained at least a two possession lead the rest of the way until halftime, 40-32.

The second half started off the same way the first ended, with a Hogan bucket, and JU built the lead to double-figures, and it never got any closer. Hogan, who had 22 in the first half, kept shooting and kept scoring, with some help from Harris, who with 11 points and 11 rebounds recorded his sixth double-double of the year, and was just one assist away from a second triple-double. 

The lead grew to as many as 22 before Kennesaw State made a run. Over 4:25, the Owls went on a 10-0 run to cut it to 11, 79-68 with 1:23 left. But, the Dolphins made six straight free throws to salt it away.

Jacksonville travels to Nashville to face the two-seed, Lipscomb, on Thursday in the ASUN Championship Semifinals.

TIP-INS

• Four Dolphins scored in double-figures, led by Hogan with 39. Jalyn Hinton had 19, and was 7-7 from the field. Harris added 11 and Cody Helgeland tacked on 10.
• Helgeland scored double-digits for the fourth time in the last five games.
• Hogan's 39 points topped the previous mark of 31, set by Darien Fernandez vs. Lipscomb in the ASUN Championship Quarterfinal on Mar. 1, 2016.
• Jacksonville scored 42 points in the paint, the sixth time that JU has scored 40 points or more on the interior in a game in ASUN play.
• The last time Jacksonville played in the ASUN Championship Semifinal, it faced Mercer and lost 66-63 in Macon, Ga. in 2010.

QUOTABLE

"We got enough, but we need everything from everybody and I thought everyone that played tonight contributed."

 - Head Coach Tony Jasick on his team's performance

"We all know I like the mid-range area a little bit."

 - Jace Hogan after his 39-point performance