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Off And Running

Strong Transition Game Leads To Easy Jackals’ Win

Jamestown’s Michael Davenport goes up for a layup during season-opening Premier Basketball League action Sunday at Jamestown Community College’s Physical Education Complex. P-J photo by Alex Shipherd

The 2017 Premier Basketball League season couldn’t have started much better for the Jamestown Jackals.

Led by six players in double figures and a superb effort on the defensive end of the floor, the Jackals cruised to a 109-69 season-opening win over the DuBois Dream on Sunday afternoon at Jamestown Community College’s Physical Education Complex.

Right from the opening tip, the Jackals made a concerted effort to get out and run in transition and it paid off, resulting in a plethora of easy baskets.

“We have 12 guys who are very athletic, they’re very quick and they love to compete,” first-year Jackals head coach Brandon Siskavich said following the victory. “My biggest thing is pushing the ball in transition because we are a fast team and I stress so much in practice the conditioning aspect of it and the strength part of it. … I love to get out and run with these guys because they can do so many things in the open floor and they can do so many things in transition.

“These guys are able to play together where it just makes it look easy (at times),” Siskavich added. “There’s still more work that needs to be done and there’s some things that we really need to sharpen up on, but I honestly believe that if we keep focusing in practice … that we can be a really solid and successful team.”

Jamestown’s Jose Davila (4) and Oswinn Hines (31) block a pass from DuBois’ Nick Anderson during Sunday’s Premier Basketball League game at Jamestown Community College’s Physical Education Complex. P-J photo by Alex Shipherd

Nathanial Hill led the scoring charge in the win with 15 points, but the Jackals’ potential depth and balance was on full display.

Jamestown’s Bradley Christian and Chiza Ntirata contributed 12 points apiece while Brandon McClester added 11 points.

Jose Davila and Michael Davenport also hit double figures with 10 points each while Christian Calvan ended up with 9 points and the trio of Chris Davis, Mike Lyons and Anthony Jackson scored 8 points apiece.

“I love to stress (that) the big teams in the NBA like the Spurs and the Warriors, teams that are successful (can) have five, six (or) seven guys in double figures,” Siskavich emphasized. “And they win games. When I go over the stats tonight and I watch the film of (this) game, I’m really going to critique it and try to figure out what we can do better so that we can get (even) more guys (scoring in) double figures.”

In addition to the scoring output, Lyons dished out a team-high seven assists, McClester had five assists, Davila handed out four assists, KB Baker hauled in nine rebounds and Jackson grabbed eight boards.

Jamestown jumped out to a 50-37 lead at halftime and really broke things open by starting the third quarter on a 17-4 run. Heading into the final 12 minutes of play, the Jackals held a comfortable 83-53 advantage and coasted the rest of the way.

The Jackals will be back in action Friday night back at the Physical Education Complex against the Chautauqua Hurricane. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m.

“It’s a great start,” Siskavich said. “We’ve been working extremely hard in practice. The guys have bought in to what I’m trying to do. Hopefully after tonight, they (fully) see that and we just continue to build off of it. I am very proud of our team, the staff, everyone who has made tonight possible to give myself and my 12 players the chance to play. … It was a very big team success from (general manager) Kayla Crosby getting everything set up, to all of the interns, to all of the extra people who stepped up tonight and made this possible for us. Without them, we wouldn’t have a game. I’m very, very pleased with everyone’s effort.”

NOTES: DuBois, which dropped to 0-2 on the young season, was led by 17 points from Albert Varacallo and 10 points from Joslip Lucic-Jozak.

DUBOIS (69)

Rosenboro 1 0 2, Payne 2 0 4, Vogt 0 0 0, DVaracallo 1 0 3, Moore 3 0 6, Anderson 4 1 9, Callejas 3 0 9, Francis 4 1 9, AVaracallo 4 5 17, Lucic-Jozak 2 6 10. Totals 24 13 69.

JAMESTOWN (109)

Davis 3 2 8, Lyons 3 2 8, McClester 5 0 11, Jackson 4 0 8, Davila 5 0 10, Baker 1 0 2, Hill 6 3 15, Christian 5 2 12, Calvan 4 0 9, Davenport 5 0 10, Ntirata 5 1 12, Hines 2 0 4. Totals 48 10 109.

3-point goals — DVaracallo, Callejas 3, AVaracallo 4, McClester, Calvan Ntirata.

DuBois    13 24 16 16 — 69

Jamestown    23 27 33 26 — 109

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