JACKSONVILLE, Fla – The Jacksonville University men's basketball team (3-0) completed its three-game home stretch to open the 2020-21 campaign perfect, putting Presbyterian (0-1) away, 78-65, to move to 3-0 for the first time since the 2007-08 season.
The Dolphins were led in the scoring column once again by
Dontarius James who canned 18 points to go with six boards, three assists, a steal and a block. Three others joined James in double figures.
Bryce Workman matched his career-high with 15 points to go with four rebounds, a career-best four assists and two steals.
Diante Wood added 16 points, four assists, three steals and two rebounds off the bench while shooting 10-13 from the free throw line.
Tyreese Davis added 14 points on 7-8 shooting from the floor, four assists and three steals.
Quietly,
Mo Arnold pulled down eight rebounds from the guard spot while
Zameron Boozer chipped in three boards and a pair of blocks off the bench.
Trey Sides notched five points and four rebounds while drawing three charges.
As a team, JU shot 55.6 percent from the floor, already the second time this season they've done so. The Dolphins were 30-54 from the floor and 7-14 from deep while collecting 40 points in the paint. The glass was friendly to JU as well on Wednesday night as the home side out-rebounded Presbyterian 35-33.
Jacksonville is now averaging 10.0 made three-point field goals per game and shooting them at a 46.2 percent clip. So far, that's a 15-percentage point improvement over the effort from long range in 2019-20.
Tyreese Davis is shooting 73.9 percent from the floor from a guard spot and ranks among the nation's leaders in that category.
The Dolphins started slow but ultimately only trailed for 38 seconds in this game. After four lead changes early on and a pair of ties, the team went on to lead by as many as 24 points late in the second half on its way to the 13-point victory. Presbyterian led, 9-8, with 13:46 to play in the first half but Jacksonville used an extended 18-5 run to build a 14-point advantage, 28-14, by the 4:43 mark. JU led by 12 at the break.
It was more of the same in the second half after Presbyterian managed to cut the JU advantage to six with 16:56 to go. An extended run, capped by a James triple with 11:07 to go gave JU its first lead north of 20 points, 60-39, and the home side never looked back. The lead hovered around 20 the rest of the way until a late spurt by Presbyterian created the difference in this one.
Next up for the Dolphins will be their first road test in the form of a trip up the road to Athens, Ga. for a date with the Georgia Bulldogs. The Dolphins are 0-9 all-time against the SEC foe and will be going toe-to-toe for the first time since Nov. 9, 2012 – a six-point loss for the Dolphins in Athens. That game will air on the SEC Network at 7 p.m. on Friday night (Dec. 4).
