Second-half surge leads #12 Jimmies past Morningside

An 11-0 run to open the second half erased a five-point halftime deficit as the 12th-ranked University of Jamestown men's basketball team defeated Morningside (Iowa) University 82-70 Saturday afternoon at Harold Newman Arena.

The win puts the Jimmies at 15-2 overall and 5-2 in the GPAC while Morningside falls to 8-5 overall and 5-3 in league play. Jamestown is back in action Friday at Northwestern (Iowa) College.

Seven straight points by Mason Walters (JR/Jamestown, ND) put Jamestown ahead 12-4 just under five minutes into the game, but the Mustangs rallied to take a 20-14 lead after Jack Dotzler's three-pointer at the 10:38 mark. Devon Schultz (SR/Arlington, MN) gave the Jimmies a four-point edge with a bucket coming with 8:27 left in the half.

Morningside finished the first half by scoring 20 of the final 31 points for a 41-36 halftime lead.

Marc Kjos (JR/Lake City, MN) opened the UJ second half with a three-pointer, then following John Argue (SO/Houston, TX)'s game-tying basket, Mason Walters and Cole Woodford (SO/Redwood Falls, MN) connected from long distance to make it 47-41.

Joey Skoff scored to bring Morningside within three points, but the visitors would get no closer. A 10-2 run punctuated by another Kjos three gave the Jimmies a 12-point lead with 7:54 remaining, and the game's outcome was no longer in doubt.

Walters recorded a double-double with a game-high 20 points and 11 rebounds in his return to the starting lineup after missing the last five games due to injury. Woodford added 18 points on 6-of-8 three-point shooting, and Kjos and Argue both finished with 16 points. Kjos added five steals and four assists.

Ely Doble had 16 points off the bench to lead the Mustangs, who also got double figure points from Zach Imig and Aidan Vanderloo with 10 each.