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With 12:43 to go in the first half, the Dordt Defenders men’s basketball team’s Bryce Coppock splashed a three to cut the University of Jamestown’s lead to 18-16. That would be the closest the Defenders would get as the Jimmies would consistently respond to opposition runs with runs of their own.
After the Defenders opened the second half on a 8-3 run to cut the deficit to five points, the Jimmies (23-8, 13-8) responded with a 32-13 run on their way to a 83-59 win over the Defenders (20-10, 12-9) on Feb. 23.
After the Jimmies lost to the Defenders on Feb. 19, to end the regular season, Cole Woodford said the team was determined to get back in the win column.
“We knew both teams were going to make runs,” Woodford said. “But I think we had a little bit of a sour taste in our mouth from what happened to us last game. I think that really motivated us to really keep it on the gas and keep going at them.”
The Jimmies’ Marc Kjos splashed the three from downtown to put the Jimmies up 26-17 with 9:19 to go in the first half. The Jimmies’ Devon Schultz took a feed from John Argue and slammed it home to make it a 37-27 game with 42 seconds left in the first half.
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The Defenders’ Jackson Louscher hit the hook shot to cut the deficit to 42-35 with just over 17 minutes to go in the second half. After a steal, the Jimmies’ Mason Walters sprinted out on the break and slammed it home to make it 76-50 with five and a half minutes to go.
Jimmies head coach Danny Neville expressed how proud he was of his team’s effort in this game.
“I think guys were really locked in,” Neville said. “We were efficient on both ends. Offensively I thought we were really efficient and defensively, I thought we had a really good game plan and did a really good job.”
The Jimmies return home at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 26 when they face Dakota Wesleyan in the GPAC Semifinals.
UJ 83, DU 59
UJ: 39 44–83
DU: 29 30—59
Points leaders:
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UJ: Cole Woodford 20, Will Cordes 16, Marc Kjos 14, Mason Walters 14
DU: Bryce Coppock 17, Jackson Louscher 9, Luke Rankin 8, Cade Bleeker 8
Assists leaders:
UJ: Woodford 4, Walters 3, Cordes 2, Kjos 2, Brady Birch 2
DU: Rankin 2, Vis 2, Coppock 1, Louscher 1
Leading rebounders:
UJ: John Argue 8, Walters 7, Kjos 5
DU: Vis 9, Camden Bialas 5, Bleeker 3
