Thursday

NAIA Men’s Basketball Tournament

Round of 16

At Kansas City

Jamestown 88  #4 SeedFaulkner, Alabama  83

Box Score

JImmies advance to the Tournament Elie 8 on Sat. Mar. Mar. 20, at noon vs.#5 Seed, Shawnee State.

KANSAS CITY, Mo.  (UJ) — Marc Kjos (SO/Lake City, MN) and Mason Walters (SO/Jamestown, ND) each scored 26 points to help lead the University of Jamestown men’s basketball team to an 88-83 victory over No. 7 Faulkner (Ala.) University in the NAIA National Championship Round of 16.

Jamestown (22-8), the tournament’s 14th seed, advances to the quarterfinals and will play No. 6 Shawnee State (Ohio), the fifth seed in the tournament, Saturday at noon. Faulkner ends the season with a record of 26-3.

Walters was the offensive key for the Jimmies in the first half, scoring 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting as Jamestown piled up 22 of its 38 first-half points in the paint.

UJ biggest first-half lead came on a Walters three-point play that made it 20-14 at the 10:36 mark. An 11-4 Faulkner run put the Eagles ahead by one with 5:47 remaining in the half, and the lead went back and forth on the next five possessions.

A Kjos basket regained the lead for UJ at 30-29, then Brock Schrom (SR/Grand Rapids, MN) and Walters followed with buckets of their own to extend the lead to five, and the Jimmies would own a 38-33 halftime advantage.

Faulkner opened the second half with five straight points to draw even at 38, but Jack Talley (SR/Sioux Falls, SD) answered with a three-pointer. Kjos would later knock down another three to make it a four-point Jimmie lead.

C.J. Williamson put Faulkner up 47-46 at the 15:02 mark with a basket. In what was starting to become a habit, Kjos gave Jamestown breathing room with another three-pointer.

UJ would lead by as many as six with 12:53 to play, but Faulkner hung around. The Eagles tied the game five times down the stretch, with the last tie coming on an Austin Rogers basket with 50 seconds left.

Jamestown worked the game clock down to 30 seconds, and Kjos drained his eighth three-pointer of the contest for another Jimmie lead. After Williamson missed a long-range jumper, Will Cordes (FR/Shakopee, MN) grabbed the rebound and was fouled, and Faulkner would be forced to foul to help save time.

Kjos had 24 of his career-high 26 points in the second half on 8-of-10 shooting from beyond the arc. Cordes was in double figures with 12 points and Cole Woodford (FR/Redwood Falls, MN) added nine off the bench.

Walters had a game-high 12 rebounds for his 23rd double-double of the season. Kjos and Cordes each dished out six assists. Schrom blocked five shots and Kjos racked up four steals.

Williamson led Faulkner with 28 points and 10 rebounds. Jordan Hamlette finished with 23, while Rogers (12) and Garrett Sanderson (11) were also in double figures.