The latest example came Saturday afternoon.

Despite shooting 57% in the first half and leading, 50-49, after 20 minutes, the Jayhawks allowed Genesee CC to go on a 7-0 run late in the second half and never recovered en route to a 92-80 NJCAA Region 3 Division II loss at the Physical Education Complex.

“We haven’t been able to close them out and execute well enough down the stretch,” Jamestown CC head coach Xavier Churnac said. “It’s kind of been a struggle all season.”

With the defeat, Jamestown CC finished the regular season 8-16 overall and 1-9 in region play to earn the No. 6 seed setting up a likely subregional game Tuesday night against the same Genesee CC (18-8, 6-4) squad in Batavia.

Jamestown Community College's Sheick Kourmora (20) scores with less than 1 second remaining in the first half during Saturday's NJCAA Region 3 Division II men's basketball game at the Physical Education Complex. P-J photo by Matt Spielman

Jordan Matos, who was averaging just 8.0 points per game on the season, led the Cougars with 29 points, including six 3-pointers, on Saturday.

“We sure did,” Churnac said when asked if his team lost track of the sophomore from Brooklyn. “That’s probably his career high at Genesee CC. I don’t think he’s scored anything close to that in two years.”

Matos was shooting 30.7% from long range and averaging just 1.4 3-pointers made per game entering Saturday, but hit on 6 of 11 (54.5%) against the Jayhawks.

Jamestown CC had four players score in double figures, led by Jake Hougan’s 19 points, but received just seven points from its bench while Genesee CC received 22 points off its bench.

“The big thing with Jake was he was aggressive from the start,” Churnac said of the freshman from Chardon, Ohio. “If you stay aggressive, usually good things happen.”

Jamestown Community College's Jake Hougan (30) makes a move in the lane while being defended by Genesee CC's Jean Aristil (22) during Saturday's NJCAA Region 3 Division II men's basketball game at the Physical Education Complex. P-J photo by Matt Spielman

The Jayhawks took a 13-2 lead early as the Cougars went eight straight possessions without a basket, but Matos’ three-point play with 15:20 remaining in the first half stopped the run. That ignited a 15-5 run capped by Matos’ first 3-pointer of the game as Genesee CC got right back in the game.

A 6-0 run capped by a Isaiah Clemons bucket gave the Cougars a 38-33 lead with 6:05 left, but Hougan later scored on three straight trips as Jamestown CC took a 43-42 lead.

“I just think it’s being consistent with what’s working. If one thing is working, there’s no reason to try to do something different,” Churnac said of the offense Hougan was providing. “We get caught sometimes doing it one way and then trying to do it another way.”

Jordan Thomas converted a three-point play to give the Jayhawks a one-point lead with 18 seconds remaining, but Clemons answered with a pair of free throws to give the lead back to Genesee CC. Sheick Kourmora received a baseline inbounds pass and went coast to coast before scoring on a lay-in at the buzzer to give the hosts the halftime lead.

“I thought the offense was good,” Churnac said of the opening 20 minutes, “but the defense was kind of sporadic.”

The Cougars opened the second half on a 10-1 run highlighted by a pair of Matos 3-pointers, but Jamestown CC tied the game at 66 on a pair of Donathan Daniels free throws with 11:28 remaining.

Devin Green hit a 3-pointer on the next Genesee CC possession before Matos scored and the Jayhawks never recovered, eventually letting the Cougars get out of reach.

“We have a lot of young guys,” Churnac said. “Even our sophomores are inexperienced, but having gone through the region as a basketball player there are certain things you should have learned and corrected.”

Now they’ll have two days to figure out how to reverse their fortunes Tuesday night or their season will be over.

“We have certain things we didn’t do today that we were saving for Tuesday regardless,” Churnac said. ” … We can get them, it’s just about execution, level of focus and effort.”

NOTES: Thomas had 16 points, 15 rebounds and five steals; Daniels had 16 points, six rebounds and four assists; and Kourmora had 15 points and three steals for Jamestown CC, which shot 31 of 70 (44.3%) from the floor, including 3 of 20 (15%) from 3-point range, and turned the ball over 12 times. … Legacy Wallace had 15 points, nine rebounds and six assists; Green had 14 points and 11 rebounds; Clemons had 12 points; and Souleymane Gueye had 15 points and six rebounds off the bench for Genesee CC, which shot 33 of 73 (45.2%) from the field, including 10 of 26 (38.5%) from 3-point range, and turned the ball over 13 times. … Despite losing to Niagara County CC, 100-80, on Saturday, Erie CC finished as the No. 1 seed in Region 3 and the Thunderwolves finished as No. 2, clinching subregional byes. Monroe CC is the No. 4 seed and will host No. 5 Mercyhurst North East on Tuesday in Rochester.

GENESEE CC (92)

Matos 11-17 1-1 29, Green 5-13 3-4 14, Aristil 0-3 0-0 0, Wallace 4-12 5-6 15, Clemons 5-10 2-2 12, Gueye 6-14 3-4 15, Kesinro 0-0 0-0 0, Magloire 0-1 0-2 0, Sutherland 2-3 2-2 7. Totals 33-73 16-21 92.

JAMESTOWN CC (80)

Butler 3-6 1-2 7, Daniels 6-14 4-5 16, Thomas 6-17 2-2 16, Kourmora 5-15 5-5 15, Hougan 8-8 3-8 19, Butler III 0-2 0-0 0, Guillen 0-1 0-0 0, Coleman 0-3 0-0 0, Kenyon 3-4 0-0 7. Totals 31-70 15-22 80.

Halftime–Jamestown CC 50, Genesee CC 49. 3-point goals–Genesee CC 10-26 (Matos 6-11, Green 1-6, Aristil 0-1, Wallace 2-4, Clemons 0-3, Sutherland 1-1), Jamestown CC 3-20 (Butler 0-2, Daniels 0-4, Thomas 2-5, Kourmora 0-5, Butler III 0-1, Coleman 0-1, Kenyon 1-2). Total rebounds–Genesee CC 47 (Green 11), Jamestown CC 40 (Thomas 15). Assists–Genesee CC 21 (Wallace 6), Jamestown CC 15 (Butler 6). Total fouls–Genesee CC 17, Jamestown CC 17.