NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Jacksonville men's basketball team erased a 14-point deficit but two late free throws from Lipscomb saw the Bisons win 84-82 on Saturday. 

Jarius Cook had two huge threes down the stretch as Jacksonville completely erased a 14-point deficit with seven seconds to play. Cook finished with 19, all in the second half, from 7-9 shooting. Robert McCray V added 22 points and Stephon Payne III had his second double-double of the season with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Payne secured his double-double with over 10 minutes to play in the game. McCray finished two assists shy of a double-double.

The opening part of the first half saw JU's defense carry over its momentum from Austin Peay on Wednesday. Nearly eight minutes into the game, Payne and Deejuan Pruitt had combined for eight points, while the Bisons had scored only six points to Jacksonville's 13. After a Lipscomb burst that saw the Bisons take their first lead 23-22, the two sides traded buckets for much of the rest of the half. Derrin Boyd led Lipscomb in the 13-point run with 11 points, none of which were from three, as the Bisons held on to a 37-35 lead at the half.

In much part to Lipscomb shooting 65.2% in the second half overall and 81.8% from deep, the Bisons were able to get themselves ahead as the game entered the later stages. While it was Boyd in the first half who scored, Will Pruitt found his touch from deep as he sunk four triples and led Lipscomb in scoring in the second with 13 points. Boyd added an additional 13 to finish with a game high 24. The Bisons from the 10:29 mark until 5:33 hit eight consecutive shots to see the score go from a four point, 56-52 lead to a 72-58 advantage. 

McCray, who had 11 points in the first half and couldn't find the bucket for the first 17 minutes of the second, began to heat up again as he sunk four straight tries and a free throw to see the Dolphins go from down seven to down three at 79-76 with just over 30 seconds left.

After the deep threes from Cook, The Bisons took the ball from their own end with seven seconds left and drove the length of the floor. As Boyd rose to the hoop he was fouled, and subsequently sunk both free throws. A last-ditch effort from the Dolphins saw a full court heave from Pruitt to Payne, and Payne found McCray just inside the Bisons half for a last second, near halfcourt heave that hit the rim and saw Lipscomb avoid the comeback. 

UP NEXT

The Dolphins return home for a quick two-game homestand that starts with Central Arkansas on Thursday, February 8th. Tip is slated for a 7 pm start and the game can be streamed on ESPN+, or heard on the radio at 1010XL. 

WHAT THEY SAID



NUMBERS YOU SHOULD KNOW 
•    McCray's eight assists are both a season and career high.
•    Payne's two double-doubles this season are the are the third and fourth of his career as he had two at Incarnate Word.