JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville University men's basketball team put a bow on the 2020 BSN Sports Dolphin Classic on Thursday afternoon when it knocked off New Orleans (1-5), 77-70 to come away from the event with a 2-1 record and it's first 5-2 start since the 2016-17 season.
The Dolphins were paced once again by the hot hand of
Dontarius James who bagged 25 points, another career high, on 9-19 shooting and 3-7 from deep. He pulled down five boards and handed out a pair of assists with a steal. He averaged 23.6 points across these three contests and capped it with his best performance as a Dolphin in another win. He has reached double figures in each of his first seven games with the program and is near the top of the list of leading scorers in the ASUN.
Bryce Workman followed closely behind James, putting up 19 points to go with nine rebounds, two assists, a steal and a block while shooting 7-10 from the free throw line in 36 minutes. Workman was a bully down low against the undersized Privateers all night. Both James and Workman were selected to the BSN Sports All-Dolphin Classic Team.
BSN Sports All-Dolphin Classic Team
- Jordan Whitfield, Campbell
- Cedric Henderson, Campbell
- Dontarius James, Jacksonville
- Bryce Workman, Jacksonville
- Troy Green, New Orleans
- Jeffrey Hernandez, Florida National
Tyreese Davis (13 points) and
Trey Sides (11 points) joined James and Workman in double digits. For Sides, those 11 points came up just short of a career-best effort, but he did knock down 4-6 from the floor including a 3-5 clip from distance.
Jacksonville was 46.4 percent from the floor for the game and 7-17 from long range and led wire-to-wire while maintaining an arms-length lead most of the night. A
Tyreese Davis jumper pushed Jacksonville's lead to 10 for the first time at the 11:14 mark of the first half. By that point,
Trey Sides had already knocked down a pair of triples.
The lead ballooned to its largest of the night following a
Dontarius James driving lay-in at the 8:21 mark but a late push by New Orleans left the Jacksonville lead at just four, 37-33, at the break.
The Dolphins came out of the locker room hot and quickly pushed its advantage to nine after a Workman hook in the lane at the 17:58 mark. James pushed his team ahead by 10 twice a few minutes later but there was still one run left for New Orleans who was held a bay by a series of 10-point Dolphin leads for the better part of 12 minutes of game action.
The Privateers battled to within three by the 5:18 mark of the second half but a pair of Davis free throws and a third triple from Sides pushed the lead back up to eight pretty quickly. Leading by just five with the clock dipping below 30 seconds to play,
Mo Arnold broke down his defender and drew a double-team which left James all alone for a wide-open triple that found its mark and sunk the Privateers.
The non-conference home slate is complete for Jacksonville who won't return to Swisher Gymnasium until Jan. 15-16 when it welcomes North Florida for both rounds of the River City Rumble. In the meantime, Jacksonville will head to South Carolina State on Sunday for a 2 p.m. tip before wrapping up the non-conference schedule at Miami (Dec. 19) and Kansas State (Dec. 21).
