CLEMSON, S.C. – The Jacksonville University men's basketball team (7-7) had an up-and-down shooting effort on Friday night against the Clemson Tigers (6-5) in a game that's story was truly told by two very different halves of basketball. In the end, it was Clemson coming out on top, 68-39.
The final score is not indicative of the stellar defensive effort put forth by the Dolphins in this one. Jacksonville held Clemson to 43.9 percent shooting from the floor and forced eight turnovers. The difference in the game was created when Jacksonville went ice cold from the floor in the second half after another stellar performance from long range in the first.
Junior
Kevin Norman (Hodges Mazda Player of the Game) scored a team-high 16 points, bolstered by a trio of three balls while pulling down four boards and handing out a pair of assists. He was joined in double figures by
DeAnthony McCallum eclipsed the plateau for the fourth-consecutive game.
Diante Wood came off the bench and grabbed nine more rebounds to go with his five points and
Bryce Workman made the first start of his career in place of
David Bell who earned a night off to nurse some bumps and bruises.
Jacksonville made seven more three balls in this one but attempted a season-high 31 to do so. The deficit at the break was just nine points, 28-37, and the defense had put the Dolphins in position to make a run at this thing in the second half.
The deficit shrunk to as few as eight in the second half but following a Norman jumper in the lane with 14:41 to play to make it a 47-37 ball game, the Dolphins unfortunately hit a wall. Clemson clamped down and held JU to just one field goal and just two points the rest of the way. Clemson used a 12-0 run to build up a 19-point advantage and never looked back.
Next up for Jacksonville is a lengthy and welcome break to celebrate the holidays before returning to Swisher Gymnasium on Monday Dec. 30 to close out the year and the decade with a matchup against South Carolina State. The game is set to tip off at 7 p.m. EST and will air live on ESPN+.
