No. 8 Jamestown hangs on to defeat Blue Hawks

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MADISON, S.D. — A season beset by heartbreak ended the same way it typically went Saturday night.

The Dickinson State men’s basketball team rallied to take a late lead against No. 8-ranked Jamestown College, but the Jimmies’ Davon Thomas made a go-ahead shot with 39 seconds left and helped his team escape with a 71-70 victory in the semifinals of the Association of Independent Institutions tournament.

“Tremendous game,” DSU head coach Ty Orton said. “The kids played so hard. The kids did a great job.”

Tevin Hurd hit a 3-pointer to give DSU a 64-61 lead with just over 4 minutes to play.

The Blue Hawks maintained that lead until Thomas put the Jimmies ahead for good.

Hurd turned the ball over with 7 seconds left but Ryan Kittleson stole it back on Jamestown’s inbounds pass, giving DSU one last chance.

Just as DSU had all season, it entrusted the game to Hurd, who missed a last-second 3-pointer.

“You look at these kids and how much adversity they’ve gone through this year and for them to be one possession away from going to a national tournament and watching the shot fall off the rim, it’s hard,” Orton said.

Travis Burley had 16 points and 13 rebounds while Byron Jones had 18 points to lead Jamestown.

Thomas and B.J. Mertens each added 10 points for the Jimmies (25-5), who face No. 3 seed and tournament host Dakota State today in the championship. Both teams have earned automatic bids to the NAIA Division II national tournament.

“They’re a group that knows how to win. They’re a great team,” Orton said. “(Jamestown coach Matt Murken has) got a team that never quits. They just got us tonight.”

Hurd finished with eight points, eight assists and four rebounds. Mostly, he set up his teammates.

Matt Lee had a game-high 27 points and added a team-high 11 rebounds to lead the Blue Hawks, whose season ends at 12-18.

Casper Hesseldal had 11 points and nine rebounds while Pierce Brooks added 10 points off the bench.

Orton said the Blue Hawks’ 12-18 record doesn’t tell the true tale of his team’s season, which was plagued by injuries and had its final regular-season stretch come during a trying time in which the school made international news for awarding degrees to students who did not earn them.

“We competed in a lot of games, we stepped up and competed through adversity,” Orton said. “Everybody talks about teams that break under adversity and kids start falling part, they didn’t. They got better. … They were great representatives for DSU.”

DICKINSON STATE (12-18): Casper Hesseldal 3-9 4-7 11, Tevin Hurd 3-11 0-0 8, Jarek Hansen 3-5 0-0 9, Matthew Lee 12-19 1-4 27, John Hanstad 0-0 0-0 0, Jeff Hurd 1-4 2-2 5, Robbie Morey 0-1 0-0 0, Pierce Brooks 3-6 1-2 10, Isiah Thomas 0-0 0-0 0, Ryan Kittleson 0-0 0-0 0, Carl Dynneson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 25-55 8-15 70.

JAMESTOWN COLLEGE (25-5): Travis Burley 8-15 0-5 16, Brandon Robbins 2-4 1-2 7, Byron Jones 5-11 8-10 18, BJ Mertens 4-6 0-0 10, Drew Preiner 2-8 0-0 5, Davon Thomas 3-7 3-4 10, Luke Preiner 0-0 0-0 0, Mark Hoge 1-6 3-5 5, Jared Sutherland 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 25-58 15-26 71.

Halftime: Jamestown 37-32. Total fouls: DSU 22, JC 21. 3-point goals: DSU 12-25 (Brooks 3-4, Hansen 3-5, T. Hurd 2-5, Lee 2-5, Hesseldal 1-3, J. Hurd 1-3), JC 6-18 (Robbins 2-3, Mertens 2-4, D. Preiner 1-4, Thomas 1-3, Hoge 0-2, Jones 0-2). Rebounds: DSU 34 (Lee 11), JC 39 (Burley 13). Assists: DSU 20 (T. Hurd 8), JC 11 (Jones 5). Steals: DSU 5 (Lee 2), JC 7 (Jones 4). Blocks: DSU 2 (Hesseldal 1, Brooks 1), JC 4 (Burley 2, Thomas 2). Turnovers: DSU 12 (Lee 4), JC 14 (three with 3).

Tags: dsu blue hawks, blue hawks, jamestown jimmies, college basketball, sports, naia