JAMESTOWN, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – With just over a minute left, the University of Jamestown men’s basketball team found themselves down three points to Hastings after leading by as many as 12 midway through the half. But, as they’ve done all season, the Jimmies made the plays to finish off a 92-91 victory scoring the final four points.
Brady Birch scored the go-ahead bucket with 13 seconds left and Hastings opted not to use their final timeout. They put the ball in the hands of Kevin Miller who mishandled it and the Jimmies’ Jon Purintun came diving in to grab the loose ball and call timeout.
Hastings still had a foul to give before Jamestown was shooting free throws with only 6.5 seconds left. They used that foul and then on the second inbound, Purintun ran away from the defense to seal the game.
Jack Talley’s phenomenal stretch continued as he finished with his second straight double-double, 20 points and 11 boards. Four other Jimmies were in double figures. Kevin Oberwesier (16), Brock Schrom (15), Purintun (14), and Birch (10).
Jamwstown, currently tied with Briar Cliff for second in the GPAC, hosts Dakota Wesleyan on Wednesday night. The Tigers are a game back of the Jimmies and Chargers.
WBB: Hastings 81, Jimmies 70.
“We gave up two [single-player] runs and that was the ball game,” said Jimmie head coach Thad Sankey. He was referring to the eight and nine-point runs that Gabby Grasso and Shandra Farmer rolled off during the game.
Farmer’s came in the second half and pretty much sealed the game. She scored nine straight including a dagger of a step back triple. The Broncos have now won three-straight and are back to playing Top-25 caliber basketball after Farmer missed eight games with a foot injury.
Hastings had consecutive wins over Dakota Wesleyan and Morningside, both top-10 teams, coming into Saturday’s contest
The Jimmies won the first meeting on January 2nd when Farmer was out. The junior guard is the team’s leading scorer with 15.1 ppg.
Allison Jablonsky and Emma Stoehr lead the Jimmies with 15.