JAMESTOWN – It was a very, very long time coming.

University of Jamestown Men’s Basketball used efficient offense and excellent free throw shooting Saturday to defeat Northern State 79-64 at Harold Newman Arena.

Jamestown (3-4) had lost 14 straight games to their future NSIC foe, dating back to the last previous Jamestown win on February 20, 1948.

Silas Bennion led the Jimmies with 19 points on six-of-nine shooting, two three-pointers, five-of seven free throws, four rebounds, two assists and two steals.  Jimmy Llinas scored 18 and hit all seven of his shots, with eight rebounds, two assists, two steals and a blocked shot, his 100th as a Jimmie.  Owen Hektner had 16 points and five rebounds.

For Northern State (1-4), Kwat Abdelkarim and Tobi Obiora each scored 18 points.  Abdelkarim also pulled down eight rebounds.

The Jimmies shots 45 percent of their field goals and outrebounded Northern State 39-30.  Also, Jamestown hit 25 of their 29 free throws, including 18-of-19 in the second half.

Jamestown used a 16-4 run to take a 29-15 lead with 5:07 left in the first half.  Bennion had five points in the run, including a three-pointer.  A Llinas bucket with 1:58 left gave the Jimmies a 35-19 lead.

NSU then scored the last six points of the first half and the first basket of the second half, and cut the Jamestown lead to 58-52 with an Abdelkarim three-pointer with 8:23 to play.  Four minutes later, the Jimmie lead was back up to 11 at 66-55 on a Bennion basket.

This was the fourth of six straight games for Jamestown against NSIC teams.  The next will be on Friday in Sioux Falls, South Dakota against defending NCAA Division II national champion Minnesota State.  Coverage will begin at 11:30 AM on Friday on The Voice of the Jimmies, Jamestown 107.1.