BISMARCK, ND – Facing a battle-tested foe for their season opener, the University of Mary men's basketball team fell behind early and couldn't slow down a hot-shooting University of Jamestown squad. The visiting Jimmies hit 11 3-pointers in the opening half and downed the Marauders 86-76.
 
"All the credit tonight goes to the University of Jamestown," said Marauders head coach Joe Kittell. "The Jimmies came ready to play and played harder than we did for 40 full minutes. I'm proud that we didn't quit and fought to the end. That determination is something we can build from."
 
Already with eight regular season games under their belt, Jamestown built a double-digit lead on a 17-1 run in the opening half. During one stretch the Jimmies hit five straight shots, four of which were 3-pointers.
 
Coming off just three exhibition games into their season opener, the Marauders (0-1 overall) weren't as crisp offensively and went into intermission down 50-37. UMary shot 38 percent in the opening half and hit 2-of-10 attempts behind the arc. Jamestown hit 55 percent overall, including 11-of-18 trey attempts, in what was an exhibition game for the Jimmies.
 
Continuing to battle the whole game, the Marauders closed the gap to 81-70 but could never shrink the deficit to single digits.
 
Trevor Zacher led the Marauders with 21 points. He hit 6-of-8 shots, including 2-of-3 trey attempts, and went 7-of-10 as the line. The senior forward also led the team with seven rebounds, five assists and two steals.
 
Tom Kubank and Matthew Kreklow both had 11 points for UMary. Kubank added five rebounds. Kreklow blocked three shots and snared four rebounds.
 
Jaylan White had a strong performance off the bench, scoring nine points. The sophomore guard dished three assists, made two steals and didn't commit a turnover.
 
Sam Johnson, who was 6-of-10 on treys, led the Jimmies with 21 points. Kevin Oberweiser, who knocked down four 3-pointers, and Leighton Sampson both added 20.
 
For the game UMary made 43.9 percent of their field goals, including 5-of-16 on treys, and made 21-of-32 free throws. Jamestown made 54.4 percent of its attempts overall and went 13-for-24 beyond the arc.
 
The Marauders next travel to MSU Billings on November 16.
 
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