Same script for No. 9 Jimmie men: Jamestown College posts 23rd victory

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It’s been a familiar script all season for the Jimmies: Slow start, slowly, but surely get it going, and make it extremely hard for their opponent to put the ball into the hole.

That scenario played out again Wednesday night as the No. 9 team in the country put the clamps on Mayville State as part of a 72-55 win in the home finale and win No. 23 on the season.

“That’s been the theme of the season,” said versatile senior Brandon Robbins. “We start a little slow, but we keep grinding away on defense and when you look up at the end we usually get the result we want.”

The Jimmies shot a sturdy 51 percent, while limiting the Comets to 31, which is about par for the course.

“When you hold the opponent to a low field goal percentage and low point total, you’re going to give yourself a great chance to win,” JC coach Matt Murken said. “These guys committed themselves to playing great defense. That’s really been the backbone of this team and this season.”

So too has been a balanced attack, which they featured again against the Comets.

Byron Jones led four players in double figures with 20 points, but got a big boost in the first half from reserve Jared Sutherland, who scored eight of his 10 points in the opening 20 minutes.

“Jared and Davon (Thomas) have been really efficient for us coming off the bench and giving us really good minutes,” Murken said. “Both of those guys are really skilled offensively and will just keep getting better.”

The Jimmies trailed 19-12 early, but an 8-1 run tied it and before long a 3-ball by Robbins put the home team up 37-26.

“We don’t ever seem to get rattled or shaken when we get behind. That kind of goes back to the beginning of the season when we were 1-3 and you’re kind of like, ‘What’s going on here? Is this going to be a long season?’” Robbins said. “That just showed the true character of our team and the kind of guys we have. We stayed with it and here we are.”

Where they are is at 23-5 and 4-1 in the DAC. If they beat Dickinson State Saturday, they’d win the final DAC title outright after the Blue Hawks upset No. 19 Valley City State at the Bubble Wednesday night, 74-65.

Another sound defensive effort like this one would do the trick. The Comets actually made more threes (10) than twos (8) and were held to 23 second-half points.

Travis Burley turned in another double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Mark Hoge, another of the JC super subs, had 12 points and Robbins added nine.

“Coach is really good at pointing out little things that we can do better and need to do better to be a championship-caliber team,” Robbins said. “It’s working out pretty good so we’ll keep doing it.”

Jamestown College 72, Mayville State 55

Mayville State 32 23 — 55

Jamestown College 37 35 — 72

Mayville State — Gus Kueber 19, Adam Edwards 6, Bryen Pyles 4, Matt Bauduin 6, Eric Shulstad 6, Cody Coauette 2, Brady Robbins 6, Cody Aasness 6. Totals: 18-58 FG, Three-pointers: 10-30 (Bauduin 2, Shulstad 2, Aasness, Kueber 2, Edwards, Pyles), 9-12 FT, 35 Rebounds (Kueber 8), 17 Fouls, 11 Assists (Edwards 6), 15 Turnovers, 2 Blocked shots (Kueber 2), 3 Steals (Robbins 3).

Jamestown College — Travis Burley 10, Brandon Robbins 9, Byron Jones 20, Drew Preiner 5, Davon Thomas 5, Mark Hoge 12, Jared Sutherland 10, Steve Hendrickson 1. Totals: 27-52 FG, Three-pointers: 5-10 (Jones 2, Robbins, Preiner, Thomas), 13-19 FT, 34 Rebounds (Burley 12), 13 Fouls, 14 Assists (Preiner 5), 10 Turnovers, 5 Blocked shots (Burley 3), 10 Steals (Burley 3).

Records: Jamestown College 4-1 Dakota Athletic Conference, 23-5 overall; Mayville State 0-5 DAC, 12-14 overall.

Tags: sports, basketball, jimmies