JAMESTOWN, N.D. – The Mayville State University men's basketball team found itself up against former North Star Athletic Association rival University of Jamestown on Tuesday night. A solid second half by the Jimmies led to a 90-78 win over the Comets in non-conference action at the Newman Arena in Jamestown.
The Comets held their own in the first half, going into the locker room facing a 43-40 deficit at halftime.
"I liked our effort and our togetherness," Comets head coach Darren Tighe said. "With 11 new faces battling a nationally ranked team on their home court, we definitely did some good things, but have to be more consistent."
Mayville State jumped out to a quick 6-2 lead less than three minutes in on a Max Cooper jumper.
But, as with any good team, Jamestown quickly answered, and less than a minute later, the Jimmies tied the game on back-to-back jumpers by Brock Schrom.
The score would stay that way until Isaiah Dobson drained a three-pointer to give the Jimmies the lead. On the next offensive transition, Malachi Wharry cut the lead to a one-point advantage, with a bucket to make the score 9-8 in favor of the Jimmies.
Mayville State then took a lead, 11-9, with 15:01 left on a Simon Ramirez three-pointer.
The two teams would battle back-and-forth, with the game tied at 16-16 with 12:44 left in the half.
Cooper then went on a 6-0 run of his own, to put Mayville State in the driver's seat, to be followed up by Rene Melendez's bucket with 10:26 to go, putting the Comets up by eight points.
Mayville State held the lead until just under seven minutes to go in the half, when Terrell Alfred nailed a three, giving the Jimmies the 29-29 tie. The Jimmies would hold the lead the rest of the first half, but Mayville State made it interesting with two buckets in the final 90 seconds—a two-pointer by Thomas Gieske with 1:06 left, and then a three-pointer with two seconds left by Melendez.
Jamestown shot lights-out in the second half, eventually building a 19-point lead up, on a Mason Walters free-throw with 7:33 left, putting Jamestown ahead 77-58.
Tobyn Lawson rounded out the Comet scoring with 32 seconds left on a two-point basket.
Melendez led all scores with 20 points, while Cooper added 19 for the Comets, who drop to 0-1 on the season.
Mayville State will host Providence University College on Saturday and Sunday at the Lewy Lee Fieldhouse. Saturday's game is set for 7:30 p.m., while Sunday's game is set to tip off at 3 p.m.