MERCED, Calif. – Looking to enter the Thanksgiving holiday with another win under their belts, the Warriors hit the road Tuesday to take on the UC Merced Bobcats. Having just two days to regroup from a two-game road trip in Klamath Falls this past weekend, the Warriors could not overcome a strong second half effort as the Bobcats came out victorious, 87-76.
"We lacked poise, composure and discipline tonight as we struggled our way through tonights game," head coach Lance Von Vogt commented. "On the other hand the younger less experienced Merced squad displayed each of those things in large quantities."
Entering the half with a narrow two-point lead, the Warriors started out the second half rather flat, as a 10-4 run by the Bobcats in the first ten minutes of final half put UC Merced on top. Jessup put together a 42-percent shooting performance on Tuesday, but the Bobcats made nearly half their shots, posting a 49-percent clip from the field while going 50-percent (12-of-24) from three-point.
With around ten minutes remaining in regulation, Jessup found themselves trailing by nine as the Bobcats pushed their lead to 60-51. Just under five minutes later UC Merced had moved their lead up to 16, with the Warriors in a deep hole as they were down 69-53.
The Jessup offense continued to fight for the duration of regulation, chipping the deficit into single digits before finally having to start fouling. Merced added 24 of their points from the line, as they shot 73.5-percent from the free throw line on Tuesday.
Tuesday's matchup started off even. Jessup took an early 9-7 advantage on a three-point-play by senior Cody Wilcox (Grass Valley, CA), and after the Bobcats evened up the game, Jessup forced Merced to use a timeout when senior Micheal Patterson (Amarillo, TX) retook the lead on a trip to the line.
After the Bobcats pulled ahead by three at the midway point of the half, junior Sherman Simpson (Los Angeles, CA) tied up the game once again on a three-point-play. Simpson finished with 6 points and 3 rebounds on the day.
Senior Tahron Morrison (Fairfield, CA), making his first start of the season, provided a big spark to the offense as he cut to the lane for a big dunk to put the Warriors up 34-31 with just over a minute left in the half. Morrison scored a season high 14 points in the loss.
Senior Chris Murry (Fremont, CA) led Jessup in scoring, as he added 18 points to his team's efforts while connecting on 3-of-9 from three-point. Senior Carlos Jimenez (Cancun, Mexico) scored 12 points while hitting three 3-pointers. Senior Elijah Lewis finished with 11 points while leading his side with 6 rebounds.
The Warriors will get the rest of the holiday week off, and will return to the court on Tuesday when they play host to the California Maritime Academy. Tipoff for that game is slated for 7:30 p.m.
"Ultimately we were outperformed tonight at Merced and they deserved to win the game," said Von Vogt. "We are hopeful to get our three injured players back by next weeks game versus Maritime."
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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) and @JessupAthletics (Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat).
