LOWELL, Mass. – There is no word to describe the performance of the Jacksonville University men's basketball team (3-2) on Saturday afternoon other than dominant. The Dolphins rolled past previously unbeaten Dartmouth (3-1) with a stifling defensive effort in the second half to earn their third victory of the season, 57-37.
Jacksonville held Dartmouth to just 26.9 percent shooting from the floor while posting a 44.0 percent (22-50) mark on the other end. This result marks the first time the Dolphins have held their opponent south of 50 points since almost exactly one year ago when they did it to South Alabama (48) on Nov. 17, 2018. This also marks the first time in the
Tony Jasick era that the Dolphins held an opponent south of 40 points and the first time since Jan. 15, 2009 overall (North Florida, 38).
David Bell followed up his break-out performance on Friday night with an even better one on Saturday afternoon. The senior was imposing on both ends of the floor, quickly finding his comfort zone in this the first afternoon tip of the season for JAX. He went 8-8 from the floor and scored a career-high 18 points to go with eight boards and a season high three blocks over just 23 minutes of action.
Bell was joined in double figures by newcomer
Diante Wood who did most of his damage in the second half. He scored nine second-half points to finish with by far a career-best 11 off the pine on 5-8 shooting. The freshman added two boards and a free throw over his 11 minutes of run.
The impressive part of this defensive effort is that the Dolphins forced 15 turnovers against just eight of their own while picking up five steals. The Big Green had no room to shoot all afternoon and, as a result, posted a meager 7-32 (21.9 percent) from distance. The Dolphins came into the weekend already the best in the ASUN defending the three ball and ranked 71st in the nation. That ranking is going to rise.
The score at the break was 28-20 in favor of JAX. Dartmouth led by as many as five as during the opening frame but that was quickly erased by an 8-0 Jacksonville run to leave the visitors on the scoreboard behind for good. The Dolphins closed the half on an extended 19-9 run to create that gap.
The second half opened up with JAX posting a 14-4 run, capped by a
Trey Sides three ball with 14:12 left. The freshman Kansas native scored five points to go with five assists while contributing stifling defense on the other end. The lead ballooned to as many as 26 during that second half. From there the Dolphins were able to roll ahead to the 20-point victory.
The River Hawk Invitational comes to a close on Sunday afternoon and the Dolphins will have Merrimack waiting for them when the games tips from Costello Athletic Center at 1 p.m. Jacksonville will be in search of its third-straight victory and a championship for the first time this season.
