Duval Times

Jacksonville University men's basketball used an 18-0 first half run to erase a six-point deficit and withstood a late run by ULM to win 66-55 on Tuesday afternoon at Fant-Ewing Coliseum.

The Dolphins (7-3) had four scorers in double-figures and held the Warhawks to 5-25 shooting from behind the arc in another stifling, balanced team win.

The game started off as a defensive slugfest, with the two teams combining to score only 16 points the first eight minutes of the game. At that point, ULM led by six, 11-5, when the game turned in favor of the Dolphins.

Gyasi Powell fed Dylan O'Hearn for a layup to spark the game's defining run, with the Dolphins scoring multiple times in the fast break, and Powell scoring four-straight to put JU up for good, 13-11 with 7:17 to play. Kevion Nolan hit a three-pointer, Osayi Osifo flushed a dunk and made a pair of free throws, followed by a three of his own for a personal 7-0 run to extend the lead to 23-11 with 3:55 left in the half before ULM scored again. They were held without a for almost eight minutes of game action and went 0-10 from the field over that stretch.

The lead was 12 at the half, and the Warhawks put together a few spirited runs in the second half to try and make it interesting. A steal and layup cut the JU lead to nine close to three minutes into the half, but Nolan hit an offensive putback, Jordan Davis swished a three and O'Hearn added one of his own from distant to quickly balloon the lead to 16, 40-24 with 14:16 to play.

JU pushed the lead back out to 16 a few minutes later, but it stayed around 10 for much of the second half until a bizarre sequence gave ULM a last chance. The Dolphins missed a corner three out of the final media timeout and the Warhawks quickly pushed in transition, getting a dunk and drawing a foul on Osifo. The referees went to the monitor and assessed a Flagrant 1 foul to Osifo. ULM made both free throws, and then sank a three-pointer on the ensuing possession for a seven-point swing to cut the JU lead to 57-51.

Nolan buried a three to push the lead back to three-possessions the next time down the floor and the Dolphins made all four free throws down the stretch to ice the win.

Original source can be found here.