From Jamestown Athletics

CRETE, Neb. (jimmiepride.com)– Mason Walters (JR/Jamestown, ND) had 33 points and 16 rebounds to help lead the 11th-ranked University of Jamestown men’s basketball team to a 73-66 win over Doane University Friday evening.

The win lifts the Jimmies’ record to 17-5 overall and 7-5 in the GPAC. UJ returns to action Saturday afternoon at Hastings (Neb.)

Walters went 8-of-12 in the first half on the way to 17 points as UJ led 40-28 at the half. Jamestown shot 60 percent overall from the field (18-of-30), including 70 percent (14-of-20) inside the three-point line.

Doane opened the game on a 7-0 run but the Jimmies continued to hang around. Walters scored to break a 20-20 tie with 8:43 in the half, and baskets by Devon Schultz (SR/Arlington, MN) and Camron Ketchum (FR/Billings, MT), followed by another Walters bucket put Jamestown ahead by eight. UJ’s first double-digit lead came after a Walters layup with just under four miinutes in the half.

The lead grew to 16 after Brady Birch (SR/Melrose, MN) sank a pair of free throws with 16:28 to play, and the Jimmie lead stayed between 12 and 16 for most of the half. Walters gave UJ its largest lead of the night at 65-46 with 6:06 left.

Despite the huge deficit, Doane clamped down on defense and reeled off 13 straight points. Jamestown went 4:32 without a point, and Birch’s tip-in with 94 seconds to play ended the Tiger rally. The teams essentially traded free throws down the stretch and the Jimmies held on for the win.

Birch finished with nine points and seven rebounds, while Will Cordes (SO/Shakopee, MN) added eight points and three assists. Alec Oberhauser led three Doane players in double figures with 16 points.