NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Jacksonville University men's basketball team (9-12, 2-4 ASUN) needed overtime to put away Lipscomb (7-13, 2-5 ASUN) on the road on Thursday night but a career performance from freshman guard Mo Arnold and some timely stops down the stretch led to a thrilling, 89-85, victory.

Arnold (Hodges Mazda Player of the Game) was spectacular in returning to the starting lineup for the first time since making back-to-back starts against Western Carolina (Nov. 21) and Campbell (Nov. 25), respectively. Coincidentally, the only other overtime game the Dolphins have played this season (Western Carolina) came with Mo Arnold in the starting lineup. The Picayune, Miss. native canned a career-high 18 points to lead all JU scorers. He paired that effort with five rebounds and three assists.

Arnold was just one of six Dolphins to score in double figures on Thursday night. Destin Barnes put up 12 points in the first half en route to 15 for to the game marking one his best road performances of the season. DeAnthony McCallum added 14 and Diante Wood chipped in 13 off the bench. It's the third time Wood has scored 13 points in five games against ASUN opponents this season.

The remaining two double-digit scorers were Aamahne Santos (10) and David Bell who secured his 10th double-double of the season. Bell scored just 10 points but pulled down a career-high 17 rebounds. It's the fourth time Bell has secured 15 or more boards in a single game this season.

He's now averaging 12.2 rebounds per game in ASUN play and remains the lone player in the league averaging a double-double. Bell now leads the nation in Defensive Rebounding Percentage (34.3) according to KenPom. No Dolphin has averaged a double-double for an entire season since Artemus McClary (18.5 ppg, 10.0 rpg) did it during the 1995-96 season. He's also on pace to become the first Dolphin to secure 300 or more rebounds in a single season since Mike Hackett (304) in 1981-82.

Jacksonville shot a season-best 50.8 percent from the floor on 31-61 shooting. The 31 made field goals are a new season high. The Dolphins made 10 three balls and 17 free throws while handing out 10 assists.

Lipscomb was up to the challenge in this one and held an early 4-0 lead over the Dolphins that would not last very long. Jacksonville went from trailing by four at the 18:53 mark to leading by 10 by the 3:54 mark of the first half. The lead grew to as many as 11 before Lipscomb knocked in a triple in the closing moments. Jacksonville's eight-point lead at the break did not last long.

The Dolphins came out of the locker room hot and quickly jumped ahead by as many as 13 points (54-41) but that was when Lipscomb started to claw its way back in. The home side battled all the way back to take a 57-56 lead with just 10:25 to go in regulation. The battle down the stretch took shape from then on.

David Bell made a pair of free throws with four seconds left that felt like they might ice this game, but Lipscomb advanced up the floor quickly and buried a triple that bounced off of every part of the rim before finding its mark to tie the score. It was Jacksonville that capitalized on the free basketball opportunity. The Dolphins led by seven before anyone could blink and from there it was making sure it stayed that way. Some timely stops and successful free throw shooting led to a 14-point period for JU and a victory.

Not much time to rest for Jacksonville after this one. The Dolphins will be back at it on Saturday afternoon opposite Kennesaw State looking for its first pair of consecutive wins in ASUN play since the 2017-18 season.