GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville Dolphins battled the nation's top team Florida Thursday night to an 88-57 final in favor of the Gators.
It was the second time in three years that the Dolphins took on a ranked Gators team, giving the #1 ranked home squad all they could handle for much of the first half.
Off a
Sam Mbingazo free throw make at the 16:50 mark, JU had a slight 6-5 lead over the home squad. With 10 minutes to play in the opening half, JU was down just 22-17. But a 10-0 run to close the half saw Florida go into the halftime break up 50-28.
The second half saw plenty of freshmen action for the 'Phins, as all of the team's five freshman players earned minutes. Mbingazo got the start for the second straight contest, playing 19 minutes and earning all three of his points at the charity stripe.
Lyndell Buckingham Jr. played just seven minutes but made the most of every second. In his second college game, Buckingham got six points, two steals and two boards.
Evan Roberts and
Maddox Palmer each played five minutes to close out the game with
LJ Katz contributing two minutes and a rebound.
As for the pair of JU's Preseason All-ASUN members,
Jamie Phillips Jr. and
Hayden Wood, the pair went for a combined 22 points. Wood led the Dolphins with 11 points on 33 minutes played. Phillips added 10 points himself on five makes from the field, a team-high.
Jacksonville's bigs had a tall order against a huge Florida team, but battled for every last ball. Flanking Mbingazo to start was senior transfer
James Morrow who contributed nine points.
Out of the halftime stoppage, Morrow drained a deep ball he was fouled on and sank the ensuing free throw. On the next possession, big man
Nehemiah Turner sank a triple of his own to cut the lead to 15.
Turner moved to 2-2 on 3-pointers in his career at JU dating back to last week. In 16 minutes off the bench the Minnesota transfer scored seven points.
Senior Wofford transfer
Rex Stirling led the team in boards with four. Jacksonville finished with 25 rebounds to Florida's 52. Stirling was the elder statesman on the court to finish out the game as he stayed out to guide all five freshmen to the game's finish line.
Jacksonville shot well from the charity stripe overall going 13-15 from the line. Jacksonville was perfect from the stripe until a late Mbingazo miss with 5:15 to play.
The Dolphins also did a good job taking care of the ball amassing only nine turnovers to Florida's 14. Morrow and
Evan Sterck tied for the team lead in steals with two each.
By the game's end, JU had 21 bench points and a 33.3% shooting clip from the field.
Next up for Jacksonville (1-1) is a home test against the University of Missouri–Kansas City Roos on Monday night. First tip in the first ever meeting between the two teams in scheduled for 7 p.m. Then, the Dolphins take to the road once more for another SEC tilt at Georgia and former home of current Dolphin
Jaden Newell. JU and the Bulldogs battle on Monday, Nov. 16 at 7 p.m. on SEC Network.
