Jimmies men's hoops get dramatic 109-108 OT win over Midland
Jan. 6—FREMONT, Neb. — The University of Jamestown men's basketball team trailed by 20 points early in the second half but managed to show off their clutch gene as they got a 109-108 overtime win over Midland University on Saturday, Jan. 6, at the Warriors' Winkert Event Center.
The Jimmies (9-7, 4-4) trailed 95-92 with just over eight seconds to go when Will Cordes was fouled, he hit the first and his second free throw was halfway down before it popped out and Antonio Chandler was right there to grab the rebound and put it back up to tie the game up at 95 and send the game to overtime. The layup was part of a 26-point performance for the New Jersey native.
"It was very clutch," Jimmies head coach Greg Ulland said. "In the timeout prior to the free throws we drew up a play for a missed free throw where Antonio could be in position to get a rebound. Will executed the missed free throw and Antonio was able to grab it and lay it in."
The Jimmies were up 107-106 with 15 seconds left and turned the ball over on the ensuing inbounds play. However, the Warriors threw a pass off the backboard that ricocheted all the way to midcourt where Silas Bennion was able to jump on it and sprint to the cup for the layup to make it 109-106. The Warriors threw a pass down the floor and hit a buzzer-beater but Derek Merwick was standing inside the arc when he shot it so the Jimmies were able to hang on for the one-point win.
The Warriors (7-9, 2-6) scored first to take a 3-0 lead and they kept the advantage all the way until a Colby Vazquez layup with 1:14 to go in overtime gave the Jimmies the 104-103 lead. The Warriors' largest lead of the day was a 20-point lead at 60-40 with 17:08 to go in the second half. The Jimmies called a 30-second timeout immediately after that, which seemed to light a spark under them as they proceeded to outscore the Warriors 33-23 over the next 10 minutes.
After shooting a combined 17-for-35 with nine turnovers from the start of the game to the second-half timeout down 20, the Jimmies shot 23-for-39 with 17 defensive rebounds and six steals throughout the remainder of the game. On the other side, in the same time frame, as they built the lead out, the Warriors shot 23-for-35 from the field. After the Jimmies timeout, they shot 14-for-31 from the field.
The Jimmies are back in action at 7:45 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 10, when they host Dordt University.
UJ 109, MU 108
UJ: 35 60 14 — 109
MU: 50 45 13 — 108
Points leaders:
UJ: Antonio Chandler 26, Colby Vazquez 19, Silas Bennion 16
MU: Derek Merwick 40, Jake Orr 26, Jeffrey Rozelle III 14
Assists leaders:
UJ: Vazquez 3, Chandler 2, Bennion 2, Christian Lietz 2, Spencer Barr 2, Jimmy Llinas 1, Will Cordes 1
MU: Merwick 7, Jake Rueschhoff 3, Colton Uhing 2, Orr 2
Leading rebounders:
UJ: Llinas 12, Chandler 10, Lietz 7
MU: Orr 10, Merwick 5, Rozelle III 5, Ryan Larsen 5, Rueschhoff 2
