ROCKLIN, Calif. –  Having wrapped up the road portion of the regular season, the Warriors hit the floor in Warrior Arena Thursday for the second to last time this season. In front of them was the Arizona Christian University Firestorm, and an early run in the first half placed Jessup in a comfortable lead that they would never relinquish in route to an 82-64 victory. 

Four players finished Thursday's game in double-figures: Micheal Patterson (20), Chris Murry (15), Tahron Morrison (10), and Kelton Newman (10).

"I believe that our depth and our versatility, and our ability to have multiple guys get double-digits has been a strength of ours throughout the year," head coach Lance Von Vogt said postgame. "The fact that we're getting back to that leads us to victory, and we need to see that again on Saturday."

Patterson started the year as a dynamic sixth-man for the majority of the season but has been inserted into the starting lineup in the past week. Along with his 20 points, Patterson also added a dozen rebounds for his double-double. Thursday pushes Patterson's streak to three consecutive games with 20+ points.

"(Patterson) was our super sub, but we needed a spark. It didn't make sense this deep in the season to have someone as dynamic as him coming off the bench. We wanted to start with a guy that's dynamic, and so we made that adjustment. He's just a matchup problem," Von Vogt said of his decision to add Patterson to the starting five.

Murry sank 4-of-10 from three-point-range Thursday, taking on three more from the free-throw line for his 15 points. Off the bench, Morrison and Newman each added 10, with Newman shooting 3-for-4 from long-range.
Jessup saw a number of runs in the win that helped spark the huge advantage. After the Firestorm took an early 5-2 lead, a 17-2 run by the Warriors blew the game wide open to make the score 19-7.

To start the second half, senior Cody Wilcox scored seven consecutive points on two layups and a 3-pointer, pushing the Jessup lead to 11 at 46-35. Wilcox finished with 9 points and 3 rebounds. Jessup was leading 37-28 at the break, having shot 45.2-percent from the field in the opening 20-minutes of play.

As a total, the Warriors 46.7-percent from the field in the victory, while adding a 61.9-percent clip from the charity stripe. Arizona Christian produced a 41.1-percent shooting percentage, but they went just 4-of-21 from three-point. 
Matt Willkomm was the leading scorer for the Firestorm Thursday, scoring 18 points in his 29 minutes of play. Shy McClelland came off the bench for 26 minutes, shooting 6-of-9 from the field to finish with 16 points. 

With the victory, the Warriors improve their regular season record to 18-11, just one win shy of tying the program's record for most wins in a season (19, 2015-16). In conference play, Jessup sits one game above .500 at 8-7. 

The Warriors cannot improve or worsen their playoff positioning, as they will enter the GSAC Tournament as the No. 5 seed, and will face either The Masters University or Westmont College in the first round on Friday March 3.

"Every game is a one-game season, and we want to be successful in every single one of those," said Von Vogt of not placing his attention on the playoffs just yet. "It takes a season to make the National Tournament, and you can't take any games off. If we're going to be successful in Kansas City, we need to come out on Saturday, put our best foot forward and try to get a victory."

Just one more game remains on the schedule for the Warriors this season, as they will play host to Hope International University on Saturday. Tipoff is slated for 3:00 p.m., but fans are encouraged to be in their seats early for the Senior Day festivities. There will be an on-court ceremony to honor all graduating seniors on the Jessup men's basketball team. 
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).