JACKSONVILLE, FL -- The Jacksonville Dolphins won their fourth consecutive conference game with its 64-60 win over visiting North Alabama.

The Dolphins (10-7, 4-1) are in the throngs of their best conference winning streak since winning five in a row in 2022. JU is also off to its best conference start since the 2016 season.

Jacksonville got scoring from all over, led by a game-high 19 points from Robert McCray V. Donning a mask to protect a broken nose, McCray led Jacksonville in makes from the field (seven) while adding three steals, three rebounds and two assists.

Head coach Jordan Mincy's team also got two double-double performances from Stephon Payne III and Zimi Nwokeji.

Nwokeji notched his first career double-double with a 10-point, 10 rebound game. His 10 rebounds also set a new career high. Payne had his first double double since the Mercer game, going for 12 points and 10 boards. The big man also swatted away four balls, part of a nine-block game by the Dolphins.

Point guard Jakari Spence added 12 points of his own and played a team-high 34 minutes. Spence has logged 30-plus minutes in three consecutive conference games.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Jacksonville led for 24:47 of the game, good for 62% of time played. However, that didn't start early for the green and gold as UNA jumped out to a 7-2 lead in the opening minutes.

Payne slammed home a dunk to tie the game at 11 which then helped propel Jacksonville to a lead it held until UNA made a trio of free throws with 4:36 to play. 

Nwokeji hit a free throw of his own with 36 seconds to play to give JU back the lead going into the halftime break, up 30-28. 

Nwokeji hit a trio of three pointers in the game, three of the team's five makes. The forward hit a fadeaway corner triple off a dish from Zach Bell and later hit a long-distance bomb to put JU up 50-48. 

"Zimi misses like two or three threes in a row. While he has the ball in his hands, he goes to the corner and hits a step-back three," head coach Jordan Mincy said. "Is that coaching or a really good player? That is a really good player. For me, I understand that I love these dudes, that I trust them, that they are going to give me everything they got on both sides. Knowing coaching is knowing your guys and being able to say, 'I am not going to over-coach and let you guys rock out and have fun doing it.'"

Down the stretch, the Dolphins never gave back the lead to the visitors and closed out the contest on a pair of free throw makes from Spence.

Jacksonville's defense held UNA to no makes from beyond the arc in the first half (0-6) and even forced two shot clock violations. For the game, UNA made just four triples and did not hit from beyond the arc until the 15-minute mark of the second half.

By game's end, both Payne and Nwokeji helped lead Jacksonville to a narrow 42-41 rebounding battle victory. In conference play, Jacksonville is 4-0 when they win the rebounding battle.

Prior to Thursday's contest, the Lions were 11-0 when holding teams under 70 points. After Thursday, that number changed to 11-1.

COACH'S COMMENTS

GAME NOTES

• The Dolphins held the Lions to only 35 percent shooting from the field.
• Neither team led by more than five points in the game.
• The Jacksonville defense forced 13 turnovers and only turned the ball over 11 times.
• Jacksonville cleaned up on the offensive glass, collecting 12 offensive boards in the game.
• All four of UNA's makes from deep came from one player. 

NEXT UP
Jacksonville looks to win its fifth straight game when Central Arkansas comes to town. The Bears and the Dolphins will tip off inside Swisher Gymnasium at 3 p.m. with the game airing on ESPN+.