First Coast college basketball: JU senior Bryce Workman injured again doing what he does best

Jacksonville University senior forward Bryce Workman can’t catch a break.

After sitting out the entire 2022-23 season with a knee injury, Workman returned to JU this season and was back to his old self: rebounding, playing defense, scoring inside, making his foul shots and doing other little things that never show up in the box score but still help his team.

But he’s injured again, the result of doing what he does best: play hard.

Workman raced down the court and tried to block a transition dunk attempt by UCF’s Jaylin Sellers in last week’s game in Orlando and after a collision between the two Workman came down hard on his right hand. He had to leave only three minutes into the game and it’s uncertain how long he will be out.

Through nine games, Workman is second on the Dolphins in scoring (12.3 points per game) and first in rebounding (7.2), field-goal percentage (63.8) and free-throw percentage (81.6, among players with at least 10 attempts).

Workman is fourth in the ASUN in shooting percentage and eighth in rebounding and free-throw percentage.

Men: UNF's Lanier has strong all-around week

Player of the week: North Florida junior guard Chaz Lanier collected 36 points, nine rebounds, five steals, two assists and shot 8 of 17 from the 3-point line to lead the Ospreys to victories over Edward Waters (99-47) and Georgia Southern (64-56). Lanier has shot 24 of 43 (55.8 percent) from the floor, 11 of 23 (47.8) from the 3-point line and averaged 15.5 points in his last four games.

Stat line of the week: UNF junior guard Ametri Moss had 17 points, eight rebounds and four assists against Georgia Southern. He shot 5 of 7 from the floor and 6 of 9 from the free-throw line. Moss had a streak of 25 consecutive free throws broken in the second half.

This week’s games

Monday

Jacksonville at South Carolina State, 7 p.m.

Trinity Baptist at Southeastern University (Fla.), 7 p.m.

Tuesday

Flagler at Spring Hill (Ala.), 7:30 p.m.

Thursday

Trinity Baptist at Jacksonville, 5 p.m.

Saturday

Trinity Baptist at North Florida, 2 p.m.

Flagler at Eckerd, 4 p.m.

Spring Hill (Ala.) at Edward Waters, 5 p.m.

Sunday

Flagler at Tampa, 4 p.m.

Noting UNF (6-5): The Ospreys' 6-5 start is its best since the 2019-20 season when they started 6-4. ... UNF will play its final non-conference home game on Saturday against Trinity Baptist, the undergoes its toughest stretch of the season, with five consecutive road games at Florida State, Georgia and Miami out of conference, then Stetson and Florida Gulf Coast to begin the ASUN schedule. After playing Trinity, the Ospreys won't be at home for 26 days until they play host to Jacksonville in the first River City Rumble game on Jan. 12 at 7 p.m.

Noting JU (6-3): The Dolphins’ track to victory is easy to divine. JU is 5-0 when outrebounding their opponents. They lost the rebounding battle to UCF 52-40. … After Monday’s game at South Carolina State, three of the last four non-conference games are at Swisher Gym. The only road game is Dec. 21 at No. 4 Purdue.

Noting Edward Waters (2-7): Interim coach Howard White Jr., certainly believes in giving everyone an opportunity. In the Tigers’ loss to North Florida, 16 players got into the game. … The SIAC schedule gets intense, with three conference games in the next eight days, but two at home, Monday against Kentucky State and Dec. 18 against Tuskegee. That game, incidentally, is “Ugly Sweater Night.”

Noting Trinity Baptist (3-3): Junior guard Xavier Rose of Quitman, Ga., scored 14 points and added seven assists and four rebounds in the Eagles' 95-69 loss to Coastal Georgia. ... Trinity will play its final three games of the 2023 calendar year this week, all on the road, beginning with a game at Southeastern University in Lakeland on Monday. Trinity then plays at JU on Thursday and UNF on Saturday. The Eagles are a combined 0-14 against the Dolphins and Ospreys.

Noting Flagler (4-3): The Saints had no games last week and won’t return to Flagler Gym until Jan. 6 against North Georgia, the second Peach Belt Conference game of the season.

Women: JU's Edyn Battle stands out as Dolphins split

Player of the week: Jacksonville junior guard Edyn Battle scored 54 points and shot 21 of 40 (52.5 percent), and 7 of 12 (58.3) from beyond the 3-point arc in two games. She scored 26 points in a 99-73 loss at No. 20 Florida State. Battle is second in the ASUN in scoring with 20.3 points per game.

Stat line of the week: Trinity Baptist freshman forward Madlyn Touze had 17 points, 25 rebounds, five assists and two steals in the Eagles’ 69-62 loss to Florida National on Friday. She came two rebounds away from out-rebounding the entire Florida National team.

This week’s games

Monday

N.C. Central at Jacksonville, 6:30 p.m.

Tuesday

Southern Wesleyan at Flagler, 5 p.m.

Wednesday

Piedmont at North Florida, 2 p.m.

Friday

Edward Waters at Embrey-Riddle, 11 a.m.

Marshall at Jacksonville, 6 p.m.

Trinity Baptist at Bethune-Cookman, 6 p.m.

Flagler at Rollins, 6 p.m.

Saturday

Spring Hill (Ala.) at Edward Waters, 3 p.m.

North Florida at Kansas State, 5 p.m.

Sunday

Jacksonville at Mercer, 2 p.m.

Noting UNF (3-7): The Ospreys held Coppin State to two points in the first quarter of their 49-43 victory in Baltimore. Coppin shot 1 of 15 from the floor in the first period, 6 of 27 (22.2) in the first half and 15 of 57 (26.3 for the game). … It was the sixth road game in the last seven for UNF, who plays five of their next six games at UNF Arena. … The victory over Coppin was the first time UNF won while scoring less than 50 points since beating JU 46-44 on Jan. 25, 2012.

Noting JU (3-5): The Dolphins have improved their perimeter game this season under first-year coach Special Jennings. JU made 17 of 34 from beyond the arc in their game against FSU and an 87-70 victory over Edward Waters. Five players made 3-points against EWC and five against FSU. The Dolphins are fifth in the ASUN with a 34.1 3-point percentage. Last season they were ninth at 29.7.

Noting Edward Waters (3-4): Five players scored in double figures in the loss to Jacksonville, with Sha’Kawanza Brown, Khadija Smith and Imani Harris sharing the lead with 13 each.

Noting Trinity Baptist (3-6): Touze, who played high school basketball at Wekiva, now has eight double-doubles this season and has double figures in rebounding in nine games. She’s averaging 16.9 points and 13.1 rebounds per game.

Noting Flagler (3-3): The Saints did not play last week. When they face Southern Wesleyan at home on Tuesday, it will be their first game in 17 days.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Bryce Workman injured again in Jacksonville University's loss to UCF