JAMESTOWN, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – Six players scored in double figures as the 13th-ranked University of Jamestown men’s basketball team advanced to the championship game of the Great Plains Athletic Conference tournament with an 89-76 over Dordt (Iowa) College Saturday afternoon at Harold Newman Arena.
Jamestown (27-5) will play Morningside (Iowa) Tuesday night at 7 p.m. in Sioux City, Iowa. The Mustangs (27-2) defeated Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) 88-81 in Saturday’s other GPAC semifinal matchup.
With Saturday’s victory, the Jimmies earned the GPAC’s second automatic bid for the NAIA National Championship, March 6-12 in Sioux Falls, S.D.
Jack Talley (SO/Sioux Falls, SD) led Jamestown with 21 points, scoring 20 or more for the third straight game. He narrowly missed a double-double with nine rebounds, and connected on five of his 10 three-point attempts.
In the opening ten minutes, neither team had a lead larger than the Jimmies’ five-point advantage (20-15) at the 10:21 mark. After Garrett Franken scored for the Defenders to tie the game at 30 with 3:12 in the half,  back-to-back three-pointers by Isaiah Dobson (JR/Stillwater, MN) and Talley made it 36-30 Jimmies. Dobson’s basket with 15 seconds made it 40-33, giving Jamestown its second seven-point lead of the half.
UJ scored 16 of the first 26 second-half points, opening up a 56-43 lead just under four and a half minutes in. Brock Schrom (SO/Grand Rapids, MN) scored with 7:29 to play as the Jimmies increased the advantage to 20.
Dordt would cut the lead to 10 with 3:01 left after a pair of Chad Barkema free throws and a Franken three-pointer. On Jamestown’s next two trips down the floor, Jon Purintun (SR/Linton, ND) made two foul shots and Dobson hit a three to push the lead back to 15 and seal the victory for the Jimmies.
Kevin Oberweiser (SR/Drummond, MT) added 17 points and eight rebounds while Purintun finished with 14 and nine assists. Brock Schrom chipped in with 13 points and four blocks, and Dobson ended with 11 points, five assists, and four rebounds. Brady Birch (SO/Melrose, MN) came off the bench to score 10.
Franken led all scorers with 26 for the Defenders. Zach Bussard had 13 points in 17 minutes off the bench. Barkema (11) and Alec Henrickson (10) also reached double figures for Dordt, who ended the season at 19-13.