Bryant takes down Jacksonville

BRYANT 48, JACKSONVILLE 42

BRYANT — There was a little give and take for Bryant during its tug-of-war session with Jacksonville on Wednesday night.

Luckily for the Hornets, what they took far outweighed what they gave.

Cedric Jones’ three-pointer with 1:10 left in the game created just enough distance for Bryant to keep the Titans at arm’s length and hold to for a 48-42 victory during its holiday classic at Hornet Arena.

Jones’ 23-footer from the top of the key served as the de facto game-winner for a Bryant team that had a tough time breaking free.

“It was ugly, especially offensively,” Bryant Coach Mike Abrahamson said. “Defensively, we were pretty good, and that kept us in it. We got just enough offense, but it wasn’t very much, I’ll tell you that.

“But credit [Jacksonville] because they made us play that way. We’d been seeing a lot of zone, but Jacksonville came out and played man, and our offense didn’t look anything like it should’ve.”

Bryant (10-2) got what it needed to win its fifth consecutive game. Darren Wallace scored all 11 of his points in the second half to lead the Hornets. Jones also packed all nine of his points after halftime.

Taylor Conner had 12 points, and both Kentrell Thompson and Jayce Tillman provided seven points apiece for Jacksonville (7-7).

Both teams went an identical 17 of 46 (36.9%) from the field, and each hauled in 27 rebounds. The Titans did turn it over four more times (13) than the Hornets (9), but the biggest difference came beyond the three-point line.

Bryant knocked down seven three-pointers — compared to just two for Jacksonville — and made one more free throw (7) than the Titans did.

“I am proud of our guys for playing hard,” Abrahamson said. “It was an ugly, ugly offensive game. We did make some shots when we needed to, and to be able to pull it out with ugly offense, we’ll take it. But we’ve got a lot of things to work on.”

Neither team could steer clear of the other in the first half.

There were six lead changes and six ties over the first two quarters, with the biggest lead for either being three points.

It wasn’t until Bryant’s T.J. Lindsey hit a three-pointer with 57.9 seconds left in the second quarter that either was able to enjoy a sustained cushion, and that was because halftime was near, where the Hornets led 20-17.

Bryant was able to maintain its lead well into the third quarter and was up 30-26 before two free throws from Conner led to a quick 6-0 run that allowed Jacksonville to move out front. Lindsey and Jones would add buckets on two straight possessions to end the period and hand the advantage back to the Hornets.

The teams continued to battle in the final quarter until Jones’ three-pointer put the Titans in an eight-point hole — its biggest of the game — that they couldn’t claw out of.

“We’ve looked better the past two or three games, but this one, it was like we took a step back,” Abrahamson said. “It was like we didn’t know what we were doing half the time. But we’ll address it, try to grow, try to learn and try to keep getting better.”