JAMESTOWN, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – Garrett Franken’s fifth three-pointer of the game broke a 94-all tie with 1.2 seconds left, giving Dordt (Iowa) College a 97-94 victory over the 15th-ranked University of Jamestown men’s basketball team Wednesday night at Harold Newman Arena.
Six ties and 12 lead changes punctuated a back-and-forth first half that saw the Defenders take a 51-49 lead into the locker room at the break. Both teams shot over 50 percent in the opening 20 minutes, with Dordt connecting on 56.3 percent (18-of-32) and the Jimmies 51.4 percent (19-of-37).
Dordt opened up a six-point lead just over four and a half minutes into the second half, only to see Jamestown use a 17-8 run to go ahead by three (77-74) with 8:25 left.
Back-to-back three-pointers by Franken and another by Josh Van Lingen pushed Dordt advantage to six and appeared to sway the momentum in favor of the road team.
Franken continued to be the go-to guy for Dordt on offense, After the Jimmies got within a point following a pair of Isaiah Dobson (JR/Stillwater, MN) free throws, Franken scored on two of Dordt’s next three possessions, including another three, to give Dordt their largest lead, eight points.
Terrell Alfred (JR/Orlando, FL) sank a pair of foul shots with just under two minutes to play, and Kevin Oberweiser (SR/Drummond, MT) converted a three-point opportunity two possessions later, and suddenly the Jimmies were down just 94-91.
With 28 seconds left, Oberweiser hit his third three of the night, tying the game at 94. The Defenders played for the game’s last shot, and Chad Barkema found Franken with 1.2 seconds left as his shot hit nothing but net.
Franken led all scorers with 27 points. Dordt (17-10, 9-8 GPAC) also got 14 points from Ben Gesink, 13 from Barkema, and 12 from Jesse Jansma. Zach Bussard added nine points and eight rebounds.
Oberweiser led Jamestown (23-5, 13-5 GPAC) with 24 points and seven rebounds. He set a new single-season Jimmie record with his 101st three-pointer of the season, breaking Jake Holen’s record of 100 in 2007-08, and he also passed 1000 career points as a Jimmie, needing 20 points at the beginning of the night to do so. Oberweiser is the 31st player in UJ history to score 1000 in a career.
Jon Purintun (SR/Linton, ND) chipped in with 19, Jack Talley (SO/Sioux Falls, SD) had 14, Dobson 13, and Alfred 10. The Jimmies connected on 14 of their 33 three-point attempts, with Oberweiser, Dobson, and Purintun each making three.
Jamestown’s next game is February 13 at Northwestern (Iowa), with tipoff set for 8 p.m.