FULLERTON, Calif. – One day away from the madness of March officially beginning, Jessup got their postseason underway against the Spirit of OUAZ. Looking to avenge back-to-back postseason losses inside Hope International's Darling Pavilion, the Warriors dominated the second half, as a 92-78 victory has them set to play again tomorrow night.
The win sends Jessup to the semifinals for the first time since 2022, a year in which Jessup lost the conference championship game in the final seconds to the Spirit.
Jessup came into Thursday night a man down, as guard
Ja'Maris Blackmon was serving a one-game suspension. Due to the shortage of guards, head coach
Mark Darnall turned to his All-GSAC backcourt of
Myles Corey and
Ty Artis to play all 40 minutes, and the duo responded with a combined 59 points.
Blackmon will be back in the lineup tomorrow night, as the addition of fresh legs will help the Warriors on the second end of back-to-back games. "It's going to be huge to get Ja'Maris back," said Darnall. "It will really help because those guys logged a lot of minutes tonight. So, it will be nice to get back to a rotation to get those guys some breathers and be more effective with their minutes."
Artis dropped 31, a new career-high, while Corey contributed 28.
Aydan Janssan also had a big night scoring as he added 21. The trio of Artis, Corey, and Janssan combined to outscore OUAZ 80-79.
Darnall spoke on the production he got from his guards, noting, "Myles and Ty played all the minutes, and they really stepped up. It's win or go home, and we needed every bit of it tonight to secure the win."
The first-year head coach also spoke on Janssan's performance, as the Australian native added 13 boards in a double-double effort. "Aydan's been struggling lately offensively, but he stepped up and had a huge game. He got going rebounding and made some shots for us. I'm just glad to see that for him."
The Warriors shot 52 percent from the field on Thursday night, with their best half coming in the second when they connected on 60 percent of their attempts. Jessup also knocked down 15 threes, as they finished the night 15 of 33 from distance.
Ball movement was also key to the Jessup's success, as 50 percent of their field goals came off an assist.
"I just thought it was a really good offensive performance for us," added Darnall. "The guys played unselfish."
The win improves the Warriors' record to 18-10 and sends them into the semifinals, where they will take on Arizona Christian. Jessup swept the regular season series with the Firestorm.
On facing ACU, Darnall noted, "It's nice to be playing an opponent we've had some success with. But it's a brand-new game, and we're expecting it to be hard and potentially see some adjustments. They've been red hot since we played them. They're a different-looking team, so we have to be great and execute when we play tomorrow."
Friday's semifinal matchup is scheduled for 5 p.m.
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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 Jessup University. Follow Jessup Athletics on social media: Jessup University Athletics (Facebook) and @JessupAthletics (Twitter & Instagram).
