Jimmies advance to GPAC semifinals with win at Dordt

SIOUX CENTER, Iowa-- For the third time in four seasons, the University of Jamestown men's basketball team advanced to the semifinals of the GPAC postseason tournament, with an 83-59 win over Dordt University Wednesday night.

Jamestown (23-8), the fifth seed in the conference postseason tournament, will host Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) University Saturday at 3 p.m. The eighth-seeded Tigers pulled off the upset with an 85-77 win at top-seed Briar Cliff (Iowa) University.

Four Jimmies scored in double figures, led by Cole Woodford (SO/Redwood Falls, MN)'s 20 points. The Jimmies shot 53 percent overall and 52 percent from three-point range.

Dordt took an 8-5 lead on Luke Rankin's three-pointer at the 16:07 mark, and UJ reeled off the next 11 points to take an eight-point lead, never looking back.

Brady Birch (SR/Melrose, MN) gave Jamestown a double-digit lead with a jumper at the 3:09 mark, and a Devon Schultz (SR/Arlington, MN) layup made it 39-27, the largest lead of the half. The score was 39-29 at the break.

The Defenders made it a five-point game after a Jacob Lis layup with 16:44 remaining. Mason Walters (JR/Jamestown, ND) scored six of UJ's next eight points in an 8-0 run, and the lead was back up to 13.

Woodford's three put the Jimmies up 65-44 with 9:03 left, and the only drama remaining was whether or not Jamestown would extend the lead to 30. Walters threw down a dunk to make it a 26-point game (76-50) at the 5:29 mark, and Jaxton Wiest (FR/Mandan, ND) also put UJ ahead by 26 with a jumper just under a minute remaining.

Will Cordes (SO/Shakopee, MN) finished with 16 points, and Walters and Marc Kjos (JR/Lake City, MN) each had 14. Woodford and Cordes combined to shoot 8-for-10 from three-point range. John Argue (SO/Houston, TX) grabbed eight rebounds.

UJ swept Dakota Wesleyan in the regular season, winning 77-67 at Jamestown on November 17 and 74-57 at Mitchell, S.D., on February 2.