Walters breaks UJ career points record; Jimmies roll to win over Dickinson State

Mason Walters (SR/Jamestown, ND) became the University of Jamestown men's basketball all-time scoring leader as the Jimmies opened the 2022-23 season with a 112-84 victory over Dickinson State (N.D.) University Thursday evening at Harold Newman Arena.

Walters finished with 24 points, giving him 1782 for his career, breaking the previous mark of 1776 set by Brequan Tucker (2013-16). The record-setting points came on a two-handed dunk off a pass from Marc Kjos (SR/Lake City, MN) with 18:45 remaining to put Jamestown in front 68-45. The assist from Kjos was one of a career-high 13 on the night for the UJ floor general, the second-most in a game by a Jimmie player.

While Walters' record-setting performance attracted most of the spotlight, three other players scored in double figures. Will Cordes (JR/Shakopee, MN) had 19 on 7-of-9 shooting, including 5-of-6 from downtown, Cooper Olson (SO/Champlin, MN) added 13 off the bench, and Kjos finished with 12, all coming on threes.

The Blue Hawks led 17-16 in the first half before Walters and Cordes each hit buckets to put Jamestown ahead by three. After DSU tied the game at 22 on a three-pointer by Christian Murphy, the Jimmies went on a 7-0 run, eventually stretching their lead to 17 on a basket by Jimmy Llinas (SO/Port Saint Lucie, FL) with 100 seconds left in the half. UJ shot 63 percent (25-of-40) overall from the field and made 10 of 13 tries from beyond the arc on the way to a 61-44 edge at the break.

A 16-1 run to open the second half, capped off by Reid Gastner (SO/Lake City, MN)'s three-pointer gave Jamestown a 77-45 lead at the 17:05 mark. DSU went just over four minutes between their first and second points of the second half, and did not make their first field goal until Kose Egbule intercepted a pass and took the ball in for a layup with 15:30 to play.

The Jimmies' largest lead of the night came after a pair of Camron Ketchum (SO/Billings, MT) free throws made it 84-50 with 13 minutes left, and the Blue Hawks got no closer than 19 points the rest of the way.

Walters grabbed 10 rebounds for a double-double, and Kjos narrowly missed a triple-double with eight boards. UJ led in nearly every statistical category, including points off turnovers (18-7), second chance points (30-2), rebounds (48-25), and assists (29-15).

Egbule, Trey Hladky, and Jaiden Wright each had 13 to lead DSU (1-2). Murphy was also in double figures with 10 points.

Jamestown (1-0) returns to action Wednesday at Presentation (S.D.) College with a 7:30 p.m. start time. UJ is 19-2 against the Saints, including 14 straight wins, dating back to 2011.