Walters has career night; #9 Jimmies shoot 70 percent in win over Saints

Mason Walters (SR/Jamestown, ND) scored a career-high 39 points and the ninth-ranked University of Jamestown men's basketball team shot 70 percent from the field in a 121-79 non-conference win over Presentation (S.D.) Sunday afternoon at Harold Newman Arena.

The Jimmies won for the third straight game and are 11-2 overall. Presentation slips to one game under .500 at 5-6.

The first half was a shooting exhibition for UJ, as they made 25 of 34 shots overall (74 percent) and were 11 for 17 from three-point range. After the Saints got within 14-12 at the 15:28 mark, Marc Kjos (SR/Lake City, MN) swished home a three to start a 14-0 run that helped the lead balloon to 16 just under three minutes later.

Kjos canned two more long-range shots to give Jamestown leads of 24 and 27, then a Walters three put the Jimmies in front by 31 with 1:32 before the break. Walters was 10-for-11 overall for a 25-point half. Kjos hit on all five of his three-point attempts on the way to 17 points, and Jacob Axmaker (FR/Sublimity, OR) drained three threes for nine points.

The halftime intermission did little to slow down the home team. Jamestown shot 67 percent overall and was 19 of 23 on two-point attempts. Walters was 6-of-7, adding 14 points to his total in just over ten minutes. Axmaker and Garrett Kolbeck (FR/Tea, SD) each made a pair of threes, and 12 different Jimmies found their way into the scoring column in the second half. Fourteen players in all had points on the night. Presentation shot 50 percent after the break, but it was no match for UJ's red-hot offense.

Cole Woodford (JR/Redwood Falls, MN) gave UJ its first 40-point lead with a basket that made it 86-46, and Kolbeck's first trey gave Jamestown its biggest lead of the game, 109-60, with 5:09 to play.

Walters pulled down 10 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the season, and also had five assists and three blocks. Kjos ended with 17 points and five assists. Axmaker had a season-high 15, and Woodford chipped in with nine.

Jamestown outscored the Saints in points off turnovers (24-13), points in the paint (64-34), second-chance points (12-0), and bench points (46-17).

Isaac Sumption had 24 for the Saints and Jeremiah Gilyard 12. Jackson Becker, Isaiah Cabrera, and Travez Nix all finished with 11.

The Jimmies are back in action January 3 at Dickinson State (N.D.)