JU's defense was the key to beating North Florida. Will Dolphins finally take the hint?
The Jacksonville University men's basketball team proved once again — hopefully to itself — that defense will be their ticket to the ASUN tournament and any success thereafter.
The Dolphins are still an anemic offensive team. They sit at or near the bottom of the conference in almost all offensive numbers.
But if JU plays defense as they did on Friday in a 62-50 victory over North Florida at Swisher Gym, it might be able to extend the season past the final two regular-season games on Wednesday against Stetson and Friday against Florida Gulf Coast, both at home.
The Dolphins (14-14, 5-9) are 7-0 this season when holding teams under 60 points and are 33-2 under coach Jordan Mincy. They held the Ospreys to their lowest point total, number of baskets (13) this season, and the lowest field-goal percentage (29.5) and 3-point percentage (23.5) in conference play.
UNF junior guard Chaz Lanier entered the game second in ASUN scoring with 19.9 points per game. He was held to 13, his lowest in an ASUN game, and below 20 points for only the fourth time in 14 conference games.
JU forced UNF into a season-high of 20 turnovers but most of them were forced by the Dolphins, who had 14 steals. Five players had two or more steals, led by Bryce Workman and Stephon Payne III with three each.
The Dolphins also outrebounded UNF 40-26. UNF had one offensive rebound and JU outscored the Ospreys 13-0 on second-chance points.
The victory and Saturday's ASUN results left JU in sole possession of 10th place in the conference, the final qualifying spot for the tournament. The Dolphins are a half-game ahead of 11th-place Central Arkansas (5-10) and one clear of 12th-place Bellmarine (4-10) and a half-game behind Kennesaw and Queens (each 6-9) and one game behind FGCU (6-8).
It gets problematic if JU has to resort to tiebreakers against any of those teams. The Dolphins lost their first game against Gulf Coast, went 0-2 vs. Kennesaw and split with Queens. They won their only meeting with Central Arkansas.
Jacksonville needs to play better defense than its first two games against FGCU (an 80-70 loss) and Stetson (a 71-55 loss). Gulf Coast shot 45.7 overall and 47.8 from beyond the 3-point arc and Stetson was 45.3 and 42.3.
JU can't add a 3-point shooter or another big man adept at scoring inside during a college season. But they can follow the blueprint that beat the Ospreys in the coming week and do what's required to make the ASUN tournament. If the Dolphins get there, they'll join everyone at square one.
Men: Malik Bryant paces two Flagler wins
Player of the week: Flagler senior guard Malik Bryant had 46 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists in the Saints’ two victories this week, 78-73 over Columbus and 72-69 over USC-Beaufort. He shot 19 of 30 from the floor. Bryant had 24 points, five rebounds and six assists against Beaufort.
Stat line of the week: Workman had 13 points and 10 rebounds for his second double-double in five games since his return from an injury, and he added two assists and three steals.
This week’s games
Monday
Albany State (Ga.) at Edward Waters, 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday
Stetson at Jacksonville, 7 p.m.
Florida Gulf Coast at North Florida, 7 p.m.
Lander (S.C.) at Flagler, 7:30 p.m.
Friday
Florida Gulf Coast at Jacksonville, 7 p.m.
Stetson at North Florida, 7 p.m.
Saturday
Georgia Southwestern at Flagler, 3:30 p.m.
Noting UNF (15-14, 8-6 ASUN): Sophomore guard Jah Nze played 10 minutes and did not score in a recent three-game stretch. Since then, he has played 70 minutes and averaged 15.7 points and shot 7 of 18 from beyond the arc in his last three games. ... Since snapping an eight-game losing streak against Florida Gulf Coast, the Ospreys’ Wednesday opponent, they have gone 5-4 against the Eagles, and 3-1 at home. ... In the last five games against Stetson, the team UNF will play on Saturday to close the regular season, the average margin of victory is five points, with two games going to overtime.
Noting JU (14-14, 5-9 ASUN): The Dolphins will have to break a couple of losing streaks this week against Stetson and Florida Gulf Coast. JU has lost three in a row to the Hatters and four in a row to the Eagles. ... The Dolphins are 33-7 at home under Mincy and 12-1 this season. ... Payne has averaged 9.7 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.5 steals in his last six games.
Noting Edward Waters (10-16, 9-11 SIAC): The Tigers lost to Fort Valley State at home on Saturday in their only game of the week. Freshman guard Jeremiah Kwarteng led EWU with 17 points and eight rebounds. The Tigers will close their regular season at home against Albany State (Ga.). EWU lost to Albany 67-65 on the road earlier this season.
Noting Trinity Baptist (9-16): The Eagles’ season ended with a 68-61 loss to Pensacola Christian in the first round of the NCCAA Division II South Region tournament, at Pensacola Christian. Sophomore guard Diego Fernandez, who scored a combined 40 points in two regular-season games against PCC, was held to 11. Junior guard Xavier Rose led the Eagles with 15 points, eight rebounds and four assists and sophomore center Brandon Hill had 12 points and eight rebounds.
Noting Flagler (16-10, 9-7 Peach Belt): The Saints likely need to split with Lander on Wednesday and Georgia Southwestern on Saturday to hold onto the fourth seed in the PBC tournament. Augusta (8-8) is a game behind the Saints and GSW, Georgia College and Columbus are tied (7-9). Flagler beat Lander 84-80 and lost to GSW 73-67 earlier this season. ... Senior guard Tyler Collier had a career-high 19 points in Flagler’s victory over Columbus. ... Junior forward Jalen Barr had nine points, 13 rebounds and five assists against Beaufort and rebounded a missed shot with four seconds left.
Women: Battle leads JU winning streak
Player of the week: Jacksonville University junior guard Edyn Battle scored 52 points and added nine rebounds and five assists in two victories last week that clinched a spot in the ASUN tournament for the Dolphins. Battle had 28 points in a 70-59 victory over Kennesaw and 24 in a 79-66 victory over Queens.
Stat line of the week: Trinity Baptist freshman forward Madlyn Touze had 30 points, 20 rebounds and four assists in the Eagles’ 86-65 victory over Trinity College (Fla.) in the first round of the NCCAA Region II South tournament at Pensacola Christian College. It was her sixth game with 20 or more rebounds and a season-high in points.
This week’s games
Monday
Albany State (Ga.) at Edward Waters, 5:30 p.m.
Wednesday
Lander (S.C.) at Flagler, 5:30 p.m.
Thursday
Jacksonville at Stetson, 2 p.m.
North Florida at Florida Gulf Coast, 7 p.m.
Saturday
Georgia Southwestern at Flagler, 1:30 p.m.
North Florida at Stetson, 2 p.m.
Jacksonville at Florida Gulf Coast, 7 p.m.
Noting UNF (9-19, 3-11 ASUN): The Ospreys kept their ASUN tournament hopes alive with their dramatic 91-84 double-overtime victory on Saturday over Kennesaw. UNF is tied with Bellarmine for the 10th and final spot in the tournament but if they remain tied, the Ospreys will lose out on the head-to-head tiebreaker. Against KSU junior guard Kaila Rougier made a layup with 10 seconds left in regulation for a 66-66 tie, senior guard Lyric Swann hit a 3-point at the buzzer to tie the score 75-75 at the end of the first overtime and graduate forward Emma Broermann and sophomore guard Sarah Taub combined for 10 points in the second overtime to put the Owls away. ... It was UNF’s first multiple overtime game since a 77-74 victory over USC-Upstate in three overtimes in 2017. Broermann had 24 points and 12 rebounds, Rougier had 23 points and six assists and senior guard Jayla Adams had 14 points and eight assists. ... Swann had 21 points and Broermann nine points and 11 rebounds in a 77-72 loss to Queens earlier in the week.
Noting JU (10-17, 6-8 ASUN): The Dolphins’ current four-game winning streak is the longest in conference play since 2019-20. If JU wins at Stetson on Thursday, it will be its longest streak in the ASUN play since winning eight in a row in 20-17-18. ... Freshman forward Saniyah Craig was dominant inside in the two games last week, with 17 points and 15 rebounds against Kennesaw and 16 points and eight rebounds against Queens. ... Freshman guard Sana’a Garrett made 4 of 5 3-point attempts, scored 16 points and had eight rebounds against Queens. After making 4 of 11 3-point attempts in JU’s first 11 ASUN games, she has connected on 10 of 14 in the last three games.
Noting Edward Waters (8-17, 6-12 SIAC): Junior center Imani Harris had 14 points and eight rebounds in the Tigers’ 64-57 loss at home to Fort Valley State on Saturday.
Noting Trinity Baptist (9-15): The Eagles were eliminated from the NCCAA Region II South tournament semifinals with an 87-66 loss to Toccoa Falls (Ga.). Junior guard Emma Parrish led TBC with 27 points. Touze had 10 points and 14 rebounds, her 20th double-double of the season.
Noting Flagler (11-15, 6-10 Peach Belt): Since ending an eight-game losing streak against Lander, Wednesday’s opponents, the Saints have won two of three, with the loss coming last year in overtime. ... Flagler is on an eight-game losing streak against Saturday’s opponent, Georgia Southwestern. ... The Saints led USC-Beaufort on Saturday 55-53 on sophomore guard Jessica Dowdy’s 3-pointer with 1:34 left but scored only one more point and lost 58-56 on Mahkayla Premo’s two free throws with one second left. Junior guard Sharale McCormack had 19 points and Raines graduate Se’Lah Reddick, a junior guard, added 11 points, seven rebounds and four assists. ... McCormack had 21 points, eight rebounds and four assists in a 77-61 victory over Columbus. Freshman forward Laney Noreika had 16 points and five rebounds.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Dolphins' defense will be the key to reaching the ASUN tournament
