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Issued: December 28, 2007

JAMESTOWN WINS DESPITE BLOWING 17-POINT LEAD IN CLASSIC OPENER

EAU CLAIRE, Wis. – Jamestown College saw a 17-point lead vanish into a three-point deficit, but came back to defeat Viterbo College, 86-83, in the first game of the 39th annual Eau Claire Holiday Classic at the W. L. Zorn Arena here Friday night.

The Jimmies, who are from Jamestown, North Dakota, will face the winner of the second first-round game between UW-Eau Claire and Marian College in the tournament championship at 8 p.m. Saturday.

Despite playing catch-up most of the game, Viterbo had a chance to force overtime with a last-second three-point attempt that fell off the side of the rim at the buzzer.

The V-Hawks, who headquarter in La Crosse, fell behind 14-3 in the first 3 ½ minutes of the contest and were down 37-20 with 4:51 remaining in the first half. But they trimmed the margin to nine (43-34) by intermission and were down six just 10 seconds into the second half. But Jamestown built the margin back to 12 (56-44) before Viterbo went on a 20-5 run to take a 64-61 lead with 9:55 showing on the clock.

Viterbo led for the final time at 68-67 before Jamestown outscored the V-Hawks 10-1 in a two-minute span for a 77-69 advantage with 5:33 showing on the clock. Thereafter, a trey by Cornelius Bardney and a jumper by Drew Knutson pulled the V-Hawks within one on two occasions. However, when Jordan Olson nailed a pair of free throws and Ryan Thompson a shot beyond the arc, the Jimmies were up 86-80 with 1:13 left. Jamestown had a chance to ice the game with 10 seconds left but missed a pair of free throws which allowed Viterbo to get its last-chance shot.

Jamestown moved to 9-5 on the season with the victory based on an up-tempo style of play which has the Jimmies averaging 84.7 points per game. Viterbo had the edge in several areas, outscoring Jamestown in the paint (38-34), off turnovers (17-13), on second chance points (11-7) and on fast breaks (8-6). However, the Jimmies converted 22 of 29 free throw attempts compared to 11 of 18 for the V-Hawks.

Both teams buried eight three-point attempts and Viterbo managed two more rebounds and two fewer turnovers.

Jamestown had five players reach double figures led by 6-8 senior Kyle Iverson who had 22 and 6-3 senior guard Jake Holen with 20. Olson contributed 13 and both Ryan Thompson and Evan Savageau added 11 apiece.

Viterbo also had two 20-point scorers in Bardney who had a game-high 23 and Eric Ambrose with 20. Also hitting double digits were Scott Buschman with 17 and Drew Knutson 15.

The loss was the fourth straight for the V-Hawks and dropped their season mark to 4-10.

Viterbo-Jamestown Box Score

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