OLEAN - The Jamestown Community College Jayhawks (10-8, 2-1) needed a good defensive effort and got it Tuesday night in an 80-67 NJCAA Region 3 Division II win over the JCC-Olean Jaguars (5-9, 0-2).
Katrell Henry of the Jaguars came into the game ranked eighth in scoring in Division II with 21.6 points per game. JCC put 5-foot-8 sophomore Calvin Sterling on the 6-3 Henry, who was held to 16 points.
'Not only did Calvin slow him down, but it made them play with like four guys,'' Jayhawks coach Mike Cordovano said.
Sterling also did it by playing most of the first half with two fouls.
Cordovano also cited the defensive play of sophomore Kenny Stokes.
''Kenny rebounded and got some steals and got some tips that we have not been getting,'' Cordovano said.
JCC led 30-26 at halftime and maintained its lead in the second half.
Omar St. John had all of his 11 points in the second half by going to the basket.
''He got us going,'' Cordovano said.
With three minutes to go, JCC spread the floor to lock up the win.
''We took care of the basketball,'' Cordovano said. ''We got fouled and made our foul shots.''
Davonte Dunham and Tyreek Jewell led the Jayhawks with 23 points each and Jewell also had 12 rebounds. Sterling had nine points and eight assists.
Stephen Vilson had 25 points to lead JCC-Olean and Henton had 14.
The Jayhawks are back in action on Saturday at 3 p.m. in another Region 3 Division II game at Erie CC, which is ranked 13th in the nation with a 10-3 record.
JCC (80)
Dunham 8 5-8 23, St. John 3 5-6 11, Newell 1 0-0 2, Jewell 8 5-8 23, Forrest 2 0-0 4, Stokes 1 6-8 8, Sterling 2 1-2 9, Totals 26 23-30 80
JCC-OLEAN (67)
Henry 6 3-3 16, Kalaw 0 0 -0 0, Johnson 0 0-0 0, Henton 5 3-4 14, Wilcox 3 0-0 6, Lollier 1 2-4 4, Vilson 8 9-10 25, Wondgudi 1 0-1 2, Totals 23 17-22 67
Halftime-JCC 30, JCC-Olean 26. 3-point goals-Dunham, Jewell 2, Sterling 2, Henry Henton. Total fouls-JCC 17, JCC-Olean 17. Fouled out-Forrest, Henry, Johnson.