JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – It was a tale of two halves, as Jacksonville University men's basketball used a stifling defensive effort in the second half to erase a seven-point halftime deficit and win 62-48 over Campbell on Wednesday night at Swisher Gymnasium.
 
The Dolphins (5-2) won a third-consecutive game overall and remain undefeated at home in three tries.
 
The game started off as a back-and-forth affair, with the lead changing hands nine times in the first nine minutes. Campbell hit a three-pointer with 11:42 to play in the opening half to take a 17-16 lead and did not trail again the remainder of the opening period. Bryce Workman did his best to keep the Dolphins in it, scoring a layup and making three free throws, the only points by JU over the next 7:38, until Marcus Niblack hit a layup to cut the deficit to seven, 30-23. He hit another jumper with 1:26 to play in the half, but the Camels banked in a long two in the closing seconds to take a 32-25 lead into the break.
 
It appeared things would continue for Campbell in the second, as they opened the half with a three-pointer to go up 10 points. After a layup by Robert McCray V, another jumper extended the lead to 37-27, but Niblack responded with a tough two with 17:36 to play that helped jumpstart the comeback.
 
Defensively, JU clamped down, methodically scoring over the ensuing three-plus minutes. Jarius Cook drained a corner two off an inbound to cut it to six, 39-33 with 14:22 left, as part of a 6-2 run. Workman then grabbed an offensive rebound and scored through contact for a three-point play to get the deficit to just one-possession, 39-36. Finally, with 11:27 left, Gyasi Powell sank a mid-range jump shot out of a timeout to knot it up at 40.
 
Almost a minute and a half later, Workman hit a spinning layup and JU took its first lead since almost the midway mark of the first half and did not look back from there. Campbell tied it with two free throws with 7:27 left, but Workman rose up again, hitting the definitive three-pointer from the top of the key with 6:08 left and the Dolphins did not trail again.
 
JU made six straight free throws after that to build the lead up to 51-43, and McCray had a steal and a layup through traffic in transition to push the advantage to double-figures with 3:14 left. After Campbell hit a three-pointer to briefly give them life, Powell answered with a trifecta of his own and the Dolphins pulled away to win it from there.
 
COACH'S COMMENTS

 

UP NEXT
 
Jacksonville hits the road to open the month of December, facing Georgia Southern for the second time this season up in Statesboro on Saturday. JU won 85-68 at home on November 14. The game is set to tip-off at 3 p.m.
 
NOTABLE NUMBERS

• Bryce Workman recorded his second double-double of the season and the fifth of his career
• Robert McCray V scored in double-figures for the sixth game this season and the third in a row. Jarius Cook and Gyasi Powell hit double-figures for the second-straight game
• JU made all 11 free throw attempts in the second half and finished with a season-best 88 percent from the stripe
• JU improved to 28-2 under Head Coach Jordan Mincy when holding opponents under 60 points