Jimmies hold on in 74-66 win over William Jessup at The Show

Nov. 27—KINGSPORT, Tenn. — A big first half was enough to see the No. 5-ranked University of Jamestown hang on in what was a tight second half against No.15-ranked William Jessup University on Sunday, Nov. 27, at the Meadowview Resort.

The Warriors shot seven-for-26 for 26.9% from three-point range in the loss.

"They got some guys that can make shots but I thought we did a good job defending the three-point line," Jimmies head coach Danny Neville said. "They present problems because they got guys that can shoot and get to the hole. So, I thought we did a good job of doing both."

Just under a minute into the game, the Jimmies' Cole Woodford splashed a three from the top of the key to make it 3-2. That started a run in which the Jimmies (7-1) stretched the lead out to 21-6. The Warriors (5-5) cut into the lead on a Myles Corey layup to cut the deficit to 30-25 with 3:34 to go in the first half.

In that 21-6 run, the Jimmies shot 8-for-13, for 61% from the field. During the run, the Warriors shot 2-for-7 and turned the ball over three times. In the entire game, the Jimmies shot 45% from the field.

Early in the second half, the Jimmies went up 37-27 on a layup from Woodford. Over the next 10 minutes, the Warriors cut the deficit to four but the Jimmies were able to respond each time, taking an eight-point lead into the final 10 minutes. Despite runs to bring it closer over the last half of the second half, the Jimmies put the game away at the line as Mason Walters split the pair at the stripe to push the lead out to 74-66 with 24 seconds to go in the game.

The win sees the Jimmies complete a stretch in which they took down three top 25 teams all on the road or at a neutral site in No. 23-ranked Concordia, West Virginia Institute of Technology who are receiving votes and Jessup.

"I think one thing that we've learned, we don't have to shoot it awesome to win games," Neville said. "We can grind it out and concentrate on the defensive end, put ourselves in some mismatched opportunities. So, I think just grinding out wins without shooting well."

The Jimmies are back in action at 6:45 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 2, when they face Hastings College.

WJU 69, UJ 74

WJU: 27 39 — 69

UJ: 35 39 — 74

Points leaders:

WJU: Charlie Garrison 18, Myles Corey 16, Jayden DeJoseph 12

UJ: Mason Walters 32, Cole Woodford 15, Will Cordes 11

Assists leaders:

WJU: Corey 5, Jordan Adams 4, Cashemin Williams 3

UJ: Marc Kjos 4, Walters 3, Cordes 3

Leading rebounders:

WJU: Garrison 8, Adams 6, DeJoseph 6

UJ: Reid Gastner 8, Walters 7, Kjos 6