Runnin' Bulldogs Run Past Jacksonvlle, 87-78, Saturday Night
November 17, 2013 | Men's Basketball
Hibbert, a transfer from Texas A&M who missed the past three halves with an injury, made 6-of-11 from the floor and a pair of three-pointers in the win. He led four players in double figures for the Runnin' Bulldogs (1-2).
Josh Castellanos, a transfer graduate student from Mount St. Mary's, poured in 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting and picked of a pair of steals. Castellanos and Hibbert combined for 14 points in the opening half as Gardner-Webb rallied quickly after Jacksonville (1-2) built a five point lead after making its first four shots of the game.
After the Dolphins went up 9-4 just two minutes into the game, Gardner-Webb took its first lead on a Jerome Hill layup to make it 10-9 and after the teams battled back and forth, Gardner-Webb took the lead for good on an Isaiah Ivey jumper with 11:43 to play in the first half.
That Ivey bucket made the score 22-21, and Gardner-Webb grew its lead to 28-21 on a step back jumper from Hibbert and an Ivey layup with 8:43 in the half. Jacksonville would get as close as two down the stretch, but Castellanos hit a pair of layups to spark a 6-0 run that pout GWU up 40-32 with just 2:34 left before intermission.
Tyler Strange drained a pair of 3-pointers early in the second half - the second on an assist from Hibbert - to give GWU a 49-44 lead. HIbbert then scored four consecutive buckets to go on a personal 9-2 run that gave the Runnin' Bulldogs a 58-48 lead with 15:28 left in the game.
Another HIbbert 3-pointer with 12:59 left gave Gardner-Webb a 64-52 lead - and Jacksonville would get no closer than six the rest of the way.
In addition to Hibbert and Castellanos, Gardner-Webb got 13 points and eight rebounds from Hill and a career-best 12 points five boards from freshman center Tyrell Nelson. Strange added nine points, eight assists and just two turnovers in 34 minutes. Gardner-Webb was playing the game without leading scorer Donta Harper, who was suspended Saturday night.
Gardner-Webb shot 49.1 percent from the floor Saturday night (28-of-57) and averaged 1.61 points per possession in its best offensive showing of the young season. GWU had 18 assists and just 11 turnovers and out rebounded the taller Dolphins 39-29. Gardner-Webb also made more free throws (26) than JU attempted (25).
Jacksonville got 19 points from South Carolina transfer R.J. Slawson before he fouled out in the second half and 17 points from Charlotte, N.C., native Jarvis Haywood. Vince Martin (11 points) and Keith McDougald (10 points) also hit for double figures.
The Dolphins shot 47.5 percent for the game (28-of-59), but made just 2-of-10 from distance. Backup center Tyler Alderman swatted away four of the team's nine blocked shots.
Gardner-Webb returns home on Tuesday night, hosting Allen (S.C.) University at 7:30 pm in Paul Porter Arena. The game, part of a doubleheader, will air on WGWG-FM (88.3 / wgwg.org) and the Big South Network (bigsouthsports.com).
