JACKSONVILLE, Fla.- The Jacksonville men's basketball team comeback attempt against Eastern Kentucky fell just short as the Colonels escaped with a 56-52 win on Friday
 
The first six minutes of the opening half saw both sides struggle to catch fire on the offensive side of the court. EKU scored the game's first five points after a Michael Moreno triple. Mike Marsh answered with a hook shot from the post to get the Dolphins (13-15) on the board. After another 5-0 Colonel run, Marsh took a pass from Jordan Davis down low and slammed it home to try and ignite the Jacksonville offense.

From the 14:22 mark and over the course of the next 11 minutes JU outscored EKU 19-16 though the game was tied with just over three minutes as both sides tried to get a foothold on the game. Osayi Osifo and Omar Payne combined for 11 of the 19 JU points scored during the stretch with four more Dolphins contributing two points apiece. Eastern Kentucky finished the half on an 11-0 run and went into the half ahead by eight, 34-26.

The first five and a half minutes saw EKU have a narrow edge in the half, outscoring the Dolphins 9-8 and expanding their lead to nine. Jacksonville however started to put the clamps down on the defensive side of the court, and the offense started to work with it. JU went on a 7-1 run to from the 14:54 mark until the under 12 media timeout to cut the deficit down to five. Dylan O'Hearn then hit the next Dolphins bucket and the difference between the two sides was just four with 10 minutes to play.
Eastern Kentucky responded with an 8-0 run across the next five-plus minutes to once again find themselves up double digits. Mike Marsh dunked a Nolan pass to stop the bleeding, but JU were down 10 with 3:11 to play.

Jacksonville with the thought of their season ending caught fire across the next two minutes. Jordan Davis splashed a triple, and then Kevion Nolan mirrored Davis with a triple of himself. Down just four, Nolan took it upon himself to drive the lane and make a tough layup and suddenly the Dolphins deficit was just two with 1:31 to play.

Though the Dolphins comeback was near complete, EKU was able to burn enough clock in between a pair of free throw attempts to watch the clock strike zero, and escape with the win.
 
COACH'S COMMENTS
 

ADDITIONAL NOTES
Jordan Davis was the lone Dolphin to record double figures with 10 points
Osifo and Payne led the team in rebounds with seven
JU as a team recorded 12 assists; Nolan led the team with five