JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville men's basketball team won 75-65 in comeback fashion over Louisiana-Monroe.
Marcus Niblack scored a career-high 29 points, and the Dolphins' defense held Louisiana-Monroe to 29.6% shooting in the second half as Jacksonville (8-4) overcame an 11-point halftime deficit to win in a Monday matinee in Swisher.
The first half was a series of streaks as both teams' offenses would light up sporadically before the intermission. Louisiana-Monroe jumped to a quick 6-0 lead in the opening minutes, but
Marcus Niblack and
Gyasi Powell led the Dolphins to an 8-2 run, tying the game at eight. Jacksonville then went on a second consecutive 8-2 offensive burst, putting them ahead 16-10 with just under 10 minutes to play in the half. Niblack scored eight points in both offensive bursts, while
Gyasi Powell and
Jarius Cook added triples. The remainder of the first half was dominated by the Warhawks as they closed it out on a 25-8 run, taking an 11-point lead into the second half. ULM had four players score at least four points during the run.
Jarius Cook jumped out of the gates in the second half with eight points in the first three minutes, leading JU on a 10-3 run to bring the Dolphins within four. After two ULM free-throws, the baton was passed to Niblack, who sunk back-to-back tough shots, bringing Jacksonville down to just two points at the under-16 media timeout. Fresh out of the timeout, Powell found
Robert McCray V streaking towards the basket, and the high-flying McCray made no mistake as he slammed a two-handed dunk, tying the score at 40, and the game was reborn.
Zach Bell, who has been out with a hand injury since November 10th, began to take over all aspects of the court. During JU's 12-3 run from 15:17 to 10:31, the transfer sophomore scored eight points, including two crucial three-pointers and an emphatic dunk, putting an exclamation point on JU's resurgence in the second half.
While the Dolphins' offense seemed to find its groove in the second half, it was the defense that continued to set the standard for the rest of the game. After allowing a basket just six seconds into the half, Jacksonville didn't allow another until the 8:15 mark, a span of over 11 minutes. Before that make and in that span, ULM shot 0-7, and JU stole the ball once while forcing an additional two turnovers.
With the burden of missing baskets off their backs, the Warhawks went on a run of their own, scoring 17 of the next 28 points to bring them within just four with four minutes to play. Nika Metskhvarishvili, the team's leading scorer, contributed 13 of the 17 during the run. A pair of free throws made by Savion Gallion brought the deficit down to as low as two points with under three minutes left in the game.Jacksonville maintained control as the clock got closer to expiring. The last three minutes saw the Dolphins outscore the Warhawks 11-4, with Niblack again leading the charge with five of the 11 points and lead JU to its eighth win of the season.
WHAT THEY SAID
UP NEXT
The Dolphins return to action on Thursday, December 21
st as they travel north for a matchup with the number one ranked team in the country, the Purdue Boilermakers. Tipoff is slated for 6:30 pm and the game can be streamed on FS2 or heard on 1010XL.
NUMBERS YOU SHOULD KNOW
- Marcus Niblack recorded his second game this season in which he scored 20+ points. His previous best came against Pittsburgh back in November.
- Robert McCray V had 11 points which in turn marked his 10th game this season where he has scored in double figures.
