SIOUX CITY, IA – What’s better than one comeback win? Two, naturally.
That’s what the Jamestown Jimmies achieved Wednesday. UJ’s women came from 14 points down to defeat Morningside 80-74 for their third straight win. The Jimmie men fell behind by 16 to the Mustangs, stormed back to lead by 14, then held on for an 88-83 win at the George W. Allee Gymnasium inside the Rosen Verdoorn Sports Center. Jamestown’s men stopped a two-game losing streak.
Women: Jamestown 80, Morningside 74
Morningside built a 13-point halftime lead and led by 14 with 3:52 left in the third quarter. Then, Jamestown (11-8, 7-6 GPAC), fueled by four three-pointers by Samantha Paulsen, had a 36-13 run over the next 10:45 to lead by nine before hanging on for the six-point win. Audrey Rodakowski’s jumper with 5:51 left gave Jamestown the lead for keeps at 72-71.
Kia Tower led the Jimmies with 19 points, a career-high 10 assists and six rebounds. Paulsen scored a career-high 18 points off the bench, shooting 7-of-9 and 4-of-6 on three-pointers, and had three steals. Rodakowski, the reigning GPAC Women’s Basketball Player of the Week, scored 18 with six rebounds. Kate Cordes hit four three-pointers and scored 16 points with six rebounds.
In only 15 minutes, reserve post player Lilly Vollertsen scored 20 points with four three-pointers for Morningside (10-8, 7-6). Alexis Spier also hit four three-pointers and scored 17.
Jamestown shot a season-best 54% from the floor and hit all 11 of their free throws.
Men: Jamestown 88, Morningside 83
Jamestown had dropped back-to-back games and looked to be on the road to a third straight loss midway through the first half when Morningside took a 31-15 advantage with 9:55 left. Over the next 7:40, Jamestown (10-9, 5-6) fashioned an 18-2 run to tie before the Mustangs scored five straight for a 40-35 halftime lead.
In the second, Jamestown had another big run of 32-13 over nine minutes to assume their largest lead, 69-55, with 9:56 remaining on a Colby Vazquez three-pointer.
A jumper by Joey Skoff of Morningside (14-5, 9-3) with 7:26 remaining capped a 12-0 run and cut Jamestown’s lead to 69-67. Helped by Cole Wooford and Silas Bennion three-pointers and an Antonio Chandler dunk, Jamestown led by seven with 5:34 to go. The Mustangs were as close as three down with 1:45 left before a a Bennion layup and a Christian Lietz free throw sealed the triumph.
Bennion scored a career-high 25 points with six assists, five rebounds and three steals. Woodford hit six three-pointers and scored 20. Vazquez scored 15 and Chandler had 11. Jimmy Llinas had five points, 10 rebounds and five blocks.
Skoff scored 20 in the second half for Morningside and a career-high 32 points. Ely Doble scored 12 points, nine under his average.
Blazing second-half shooting led the Jimmies to their best shooting night of the season, 61%. Jamestown was 21-of-28 (75%) from the floor in the final 20 minutes.
Jamestown will play Monday against Mount Marty at Yankton, South Dakota, with the men playing first, then the women. Coverage will begin at 5:00 PM Monday on The Voice of the Jimmies, Jamestown 107.1.