Jimmies win 10th straight with 104-87 win over Midland

JAMESTOWN — The University of Jamestown hosted Midland University on Saturday, Feb. 4, at Harold Newman Arena, and the game was a significant one. Before the Jimmies' 104-87 win over the Warriors, the team honored seniors Mason Walters and Marc Kjos and midway through the first half, the Jimmies’ Will Cordes became the 36th player in program history to score 1,000 career points.

The win pushes the Jimmies' winning streak out to 10 games, which is tied for the second-longest winning streak since 2005-06.

“I think it’s defend and gel together,” Jimmies head coach Danny Neville said. “We’re playing good basketball at the right time but again we can still get better. This isn’t our max. We can still get better.”

During Kjos and Walters’ careers, the Jimmies have gone a combined 88-13 and have made an Elite Eight and a Sweet 16 appearance.

“I’ve definitely had a successful career here, going to the national tournament a couple times in the last few years,” Kjos said. “But you can’t really do it without a great team. It’s been fun playing with these guys.”

The Jimmies sprinted out of the gates to a 17-6 lead before the Warriors cut it to 22-15. The Jimmies would pull away from there and with 5:26 to go in the first half, Cordes splashed the corner three to put his team up 47-27 as he became the ninth player in the Danny Neville era to reach the 1,000-point mark. Neville said the fact that he has coached as many 1,000-point scorers as he has is awesome and that he is looking forward to Cole Woodford, who currently sits at 958 points, joining that club.

Kjos and Walters have both reached the 1,000-point mark as the two have combined to score 3,490 points.

“It’s been a long time with Marc, a lot of hours, a lot of work in the summer that goes unnoticed,” Walters said. “I’ve been able to go through a lot of ups and downs with him and I know he’s one of my best friends. So, it’s been cool to build the relationship and achieve some goals that I’ve had.”

Kjos’ mother Mary Jo said Kjos was obsessed with all sports since he was a kid, playing baseball and basketball and football and golf but that he never stopped dribbling a basketball.

“He dribbled up the stairs, he dribbled down the stairs,” Mary Jo Kjos said. “‘Marc what are you doing in the bathroom?’ Sitting on the toilet dribbling a basketball. So, there you go. You know he was pretty special when he was playing at a young age up his age.”

Both Walters and Kjos’ parents have been fixtures at their son’s games throughout their careers and seen them grow and develop on and off the floor.

“Starting in third grade he played up to fifth grade and when his big brother (Matthew) was on the varsity and Markie was in the seventh grade, they played up in the summer on varsity, summer stuff together,” Jay Kjos said. “I had to replace the net in the driveway at least once a summer, a lot of times he would shoot past dark, wearing us out how much he would shoot baskets in the driveway.”

In the win, Walters finished with a game-high 29 points while Kjos added nine of his own. Regardless of the results and the accolades that both players have received and will receive throughout the remainder of their senior seasons, Amy and Marty Walters were in complete agreement on what they think Mason’s legacy with the program will be.

“If he had all the success and the team didn’t it wouldn’t mean anything to us,” Marty said. “The fact that the Jimmies have had the run that they’ve had for the last three years specifically and the run he’s had makes it that much sweeter. It’s always been about the team with him.”

John M. Steiner / The Jamestown Sun

The Jimmies are back in action at 7:45 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 10, when they go to Morningside.

MU 87 , UJ 104

MU: 43 44–87

UJ: 62 42–104

Points leaders:

MU: Jake Orr 23, Emmanuel Bryson 20, Ryan Larsen 10

UJ: Mason Walters 29, Cole Woodford 22, Will Cordes 15

Assist leaders:

MU: Orr 5, Larsen 2, Dominic Humm 2, Bryson 1, Jake Rueschhoff 1, Noah Sandbothe 1

UJ: Marc Kjos 4, Walters 3, Woodford 3, Cordes 3, Colby Vazquez 2, Reid Gasnter 2, Jimmy Llinas 1, Cooper Olson 1

Leading rebounders:

MU: Orr 6, Larsen 4, Bryson 3

UJ: Walters 9, Llinas 8, Gastner 6