JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (November 20, 2017) – The Webber International University men's basketball team put up another respectable performance against an NCAA Division-I team as the Warriors matched the scoring total of Jacksonville University in the second half, but fell to the Dolphins by a final score of 88-70 on Monday night at Swisher Gymnasium.
Osandai Vaughn led the Warriors in scoring with 13 points while shooting 50 percent from the field and hitting 7-of-8 free throw shots.
Rasheem Etienne and
Johnathan Childs both connected on two 3-pointers to finish with 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Freshman
Tommie Luke earned the start and finished with nine points, and
Obi Romeo and Vaughn tied for the team-lead in rebounds with eight.
As a team, Webber finished the game shooting over 40 percent from the field (40.3%) overall and shot 44.4 percent in a second half that saw both teams score 42 points.
Webber finished with six 3-pointers on Monday compared to three by Jacksonville, shot 77.8 percent from the free throw line compared to 62.5 percent from Jacksonville, and also finished with 12 assists as a team compared to only eight by the Dolphins. Etienne led with four assists while Vaughn had three.
It was the first win of the season for Jacksonville as the Dolphins' record rose to 1-3 overall and Webber's stayed put at 3-2.
Webber never led in the game and suffered from an early 9-0 Dolphins' run that turned a 5-5 tie into a 14-5 advantage for Jacksonville just over three minutes into the game.
The closet Webber would get the rest of the first half was within seven when two free throws by Vaughn made it 17-10 with over 14 minutes remaining in the opening period. Webber committed 14 turnovers during the first 20 minutes of the game while Jacksonville only had seven turnovers in the frame.
Next up for Webber will be the VSU Thanksgiving Classic hosted by NCAA D-II Valdosta State University. The Warriors will face the University of West Florida at 2 p.m. on Saturday, November 25, in a neutral-court game, and then will face the host team, Valdosta State, at 4 p.m. on Sunday, November 26, as both games will again count as exhibitions for Webber. The Warriors will not play in a regular-season game until Tuesday, November 28, at home against Florida College.
