MAYVILLE – University of Jamestown’s basketball teams are both 2-1 in the NSAA after splitting games Saturday at Mayville State. A furious rally for the UJ women fell short in a 77-72 loss to the Comets, then the Jimmie men dropped Mayville State 87-72 at Lewy Lee Fieldhouse.
Women: (22)Mayville State 77, (24)Jamestown 72
Jamestown (12-2, 2-1 NSAA) trailed by 23 points with just under seven minutes to play in the third quarter before coming to within two points in the last seconds.
The Jimmies were hampered by 29 percent field goal shooting as their 10-game winning streak, their longest in seven seasons, ended.
Alex Page scored 22 points with 12 rebounds and four blocked shots for Mayville State (12-4, 2-2). Mackenzie Hughes dropped in 17 points with three rebounds, three assists and two steals. Jes Mertens scored 13 with 15 rebounds, five assists, seven steals and three blocked shots.
Kate Cordes led Jamestown with 17 points and three three-pointers. Hannah Hagel scored 13, just one short of a career-high, with seven rebounds, two assists and two steals. Kate Busek hit three three-pointers and scored 11 points with nine rebounds and two assists. Jayden Wiest scored 10, hitting three three-pointers.
In the first quarter, Mayville State used a 20-8 run to lead by as many as 14 and led 25-19 after 10 minutes where Page scored 10 for the Comets.
The Jimmies were limited to only four field goals in the second quarter, and Mayville State outscored the visitors 21-13 to take a 46-32 halftime advantage.
Mayville State gained their 23-point lead at 57-34 with 6:42 left in the third quarter, and led 66-50 after three periods.
UJ’s comeback was relentless in the fourth quarter as a 17-3 run encompassed the first 8:04, capped by a Wiest three-pointer. A Cordes three with 39 seconds left made the Mayville State lead 73-70 and two Cordes free throws with 11 seconds to go brought the Jimmies within 74-72. After that, Hughes made two free throws and Hannah Stark hit one to confirm the victory for the Comets.
Men: Jamestown 87, Mayville State 72
Scorching first-half shooting helped Jamestown (7-7, 2-1 NSAA) to a sweep of its first road conference weekend of the season. The Jimmies nailed 61 percent of their shots in the first half, including eight of their 13 threes in the first 20 minutes, leading to a 52-28 halftime lead. Nine different players scored for the visitors in the first half.
For the game, Silas Bennion led four double-figure scorers with 19 points. He also had five rebounds, nine assists, eight of which were in the first half, and two steals. Anthony Walters scored 15, including 13 after halftime, with five rebounds. Jimmy Llinas poured in 14 points with eight rebounds, three assists, two steals and three blocked shots. Owen Hektner scored 14 with four three-pointers.
Darren Jones scored 17 with 12 rebounds for Mayville State (11-6, 2-2). Cristian Butler had 14 points and JJ White tallied 12.
Jamestown led 13-11 seven minutes into the game before scoring the next 15 points on jumpers by Bennion and Llinas in the paint, a Bennion three-pointer, a three by Ayden Stainbrook, a three by Spencer Barr and a Stainbrook shot in the paint.
For the rest of the game, the Jimmies trailed by no less than 11 points.
Jamestown shot a season-best 54 percent from the field and established a season-high point total for the second straight game.
The next four games for both Jamestown teams will be at home, starting with Bellevue on Friday at Harold Newman Arena. Coverage will begin at 5:00 PM on Friday on The Voice of the Jimmies, Jamestown 107.1.