Fort Myers, Fla. – The Jacksonville University Dolphins finished third overall in the Fort Myers Tip-Off tournament after a commanding 75-64 win over Siena on Tuesday.
JU (4-3) split a pair of games during its tournament run, having played an overtime contest against Mercer and its game against Siena a little over half a day later. One Dolphin will be featured on the All-Tournament team when the two-tiered bracket concludes Wednesday evening.
Junior Robert McCray V made an excellent case to be on the All-Tournament squad with a 21-point showing against the Saints. McCray also grabbed a team-high eight rebounds and a team-best five assists. Through his two games, McCray played 70 total minutes and scored 41 points.
After having six players score in double figures against Mercer, JU had four players hit the mark against Siena. Joining McCray was Zach Bell with an 11-point outing and Stephon Payne III and Zimi Nwokeji with 10 point showings each.
Bell dished out four assists of his own while Nwokeji grabbed six boards and Payne added four. JU and Siena tied for total rebounds with 30, extending JU's streak of not losing the rebounding battle to all seven games this season.
How It Happened
Jacksonville received minimal rest after its contest with Mercer. A broken goalpost pregame and an overtime period pushed that game past four total hours.
The Dolphins hardly looked fatigued however to start the day against the Saints, jumping out to an 11-3 lead that ballooned into a 27-10 lead halfway through the opening frame. By halftime, JU held a dominant 41-26 lead and never once trailed.
At the break, McCray had 13 points on 5-9 shooting. Nwokeji was close behind with eight points on 2-4 shooting from deep.
Bell got things to a 20-point deficit for Siena with 8:32 to play but some late explosiveness from the green and gold chipped away at the lead. Siena got the game to within six points with under three minutes to play, but a six-point streak by the green and black shut the door on any comeback and sealed the win.
After the Mercer loss head coach Jordan Mincy and his staff challenged the team during a film session. Mincy and coach Mychal Covington asked the squad if they truly knew how to win. Some players raised their hands to signal they indeed did, but the coaches further pressed by asking if they knew how to handle things like timing and the score of a game.
Against the Bears, the Dolphins faltered in terms of controlling the clock and score late. Versus Siena, the team handled the situation far better and came out with a positive result.
"We have a mixture of returners and newcomers, whether that be transfers or freshmen. One thing that we are trying to figure out is how to win," Mincy said. "We took (Mercer) as a learning lesson. I was proud of how the guys bounced back and how they overcame a quick turnaround time."
Jacksonville is in the middle of an extremely tough non-conference schedule with its second SEC road game on the horizon. Early overtime contests and large scoring efforts just hours apart will hopefully allow the Dolphins to win when conference play comes around.
"This is a learning experience, not for just the guys but for the staff as well," Mincy said. "We want these non-con games to prepare us for moving forward. Being able to understand where we are at, what we need to do and where we need to be as a collective, this all helps us moving forward."
Game Notes
- Jacksonville trailed for just 3:04 across its two tournament games.
- The Dolphins' 75 points against Siena was its third highest total of the year.
- Enrico Borio scored five points, his most points since scoring five against Florida.
- Kent Jackson played the second most minutes of his freshman season, 12.
- Siena committed 15 turnovers which JU turned into 27 points.
- JU and Siena were tied for just 18 seconds. JU led for 39:13.
- Jacksonville is now 3-0 all time against Siena.
- McCray's 21 points were tied for a game high.
- Donovan Rivers recorded one block, extending his streak of at least one block per game to six games.
- The Dolphins made half of their attempts from three point range, knocking down seven of 14 shots.
Coach's Comments
Next Up
Saturday, Nov. 30, Jacksonville will travel to Athens, Ga. to face off against the University of Georgia. Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m. EST and the game will be aired on ESPN+.
