PHOENIX, Ariz. – For one last time in the 2015 calendar year, the William Jessup University Warriors (8-4) took the court Saturday afternoon. Escaping from the rainy weather of Northern California, Jessup finished off their second game in as many days down in the Arizona desert as they defeated the Montana Tech Diggers 94-72.
William Jessup's first half numbers looked fairly similar to what they found success with this past Tuesday in a conference loss to Menlo College. Jessup was able to find the ball down in the paint early on to set up easy baskets and build a small advantage, which would eventually lead to more open shots.
Unlike that loss on Tuesday, the Warriors had the long ball working in their favor in Saturday's win. The Warriors connected on six of their nine attempts (66.7-percent) from three-point-range in the opening 20-minutes. The long range threats were set up by the strong all facilitation in and out of the paint, allowing the Warriors to hold a 41-31 lead at the break.
The second half was a tad different for the Warriors. The long range threat was no longer working in their favor as the Warriors only connected on one of their first six attempts from behind arch. However, success down low was still there for Jessup as big men like seniors Andre Smith (San Diego, CA) and Anthony Morton (Los Angeles, CA) began to find success.
One of the biggest sparks to aid Jessup's efforts Saturday was the guard combinations of senior Corey Clement (Las Vegas, NV), junior Guillermo Nunez (Manteca, CA), and senior Saajid Polite (Sacramento, CA). After struggling to find guard depth in their past few games due to injury, Jessup's ability to work in these three for a combined 45 points, with Clement leading the charge scoring 28, set the tone for the Warriors success down in Arizona.
All over the floor the Warriors seemed to be connecting on all cylinders, shooting a very impressive 44.3-percent from the field. Even though they did not have the deep threat in the second half, Jessup was still able to surpass their first half point total by dropping 53 in the final twenty to score a season high 94 points in the victory.
Along with Clement's season high 28-point day, he would also finish the game with 10 rebounds to wrap up a double-double. Smith too would record a double-double in the win, bringing down 12 rebounds while scoring 13 points. Morton scored a season high 10 points while junior Kelton Newman (Elk Grove, CA) added 13 by going a perfect 3-for3 from three-point-range.
Now that the 2015 portion of the Jessup calendar is in the rear view mirror, the Warriors will get some much needed time off to rest and recuperate over the remainder of the Holiday Break. After the New Year, the Warriors will return to the court to take eon Simpson University in Redding on January 2.
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William Jessup University is a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), and the Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC). For additional information regarding Jessup Athletics, visit www.jessupathletics.com; visit www.jessup.edu for more information on William Jessup University. Follow Jessup Athletics on social media: William Jessup University Athletics (Facebook), @WJUSports (Twitter), and @JessupAthletics (Instagram, and Snapchat).
