Dec. 6—JAMESTOWN — The University of Jamestown men’s basketball team will not go without a conference win this season.The Jimmies hung on to defeat the University of Mary 99-91 in double overtime on Saturday to collect the team’s first win in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. UJ’s win puts the team at 3-6 overall and 1-2 in the NSIC. UJ will be back at Newman Arena on Dec. 11, hosting Bemidji State. Game time is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.”It’s awesome,” UJ head coach Casey Bruggeman said of the Jimmies’ first conference win. ” … … We’re battling hard. This NSIC challenge is like a door and nobody is going to open it for you so you almost have to take a sledgehammer and just keep swinging at that thing.”We’ve swung hard at it so far this year — we’ve come up a little bit short but we had three losses to top-25 teams by a combined nine points,” he said. “We’ve been right there. We know we have to keep getting better. This is a fun win for us to have to hopefully have some momentum moving forward.”After a tough seven point loss to Minot State on Dec. 4, Bruggeman said his team was ready to battle against the Marauders.Unfortunately for the Jimmies, the Marauders were also ready.While the visitors allowed a mid-half, 10-point run by the Jimmies to make it 28-22, momentum soon shifted and the Marauders established a 12 point lead with just over a minute to play. A jumper by UJ freshman Ford Okehi cut the Marauders’ lead to 10 with 57 seconds left in the half.Mary led 53-43 at the halfway point.”The big emphasis at halftime was to guard the three-point line better then we gave them extra possessions by turning the ball over,” Bruggeman said. “We had to sure those things up.”The Jimmies picked up the pace of play in the second half, and while they kept the defensive pressure on, they were unable to contain all of U Mary’s scoring. The Marauders went on a 16-7 run in the first nine minutes to make it 69-50. Okehi broke the Jimmies’ nearly six minute scoring drought with a 3-pointer that sent UJ to a timeout.Out of the break, the Jimmies got a boost via a turnover by the Marauders. The change in possession resulted in a layup by Okehi to make it a 14 point game with just over nine minutes left to play in regulation.”We battled hard for those first five minutes,” Bruggeman said. “It didn’t show on the scoreboard — but you could tell we had better fight.”A putback by Thomas Diew drew up a foul by U Mary’s Kenny Gonzalez to make it 69-57 Marauders. Diew went 1-for-1 at the line. Anthony Walters’ 3-pointer at the 7:44 mark capped off an 11-0 run by the Jimmies and forced U Mary head coach Darren Tighe, to call his first timeout of the half.Jackson Ware put the Marauders in front by 11 with a 3-pointer but the Jimmies kept threatening with scores from Walters and Owen Hektner to make it 72-66 with five minutes left in regulation.On UJ’s next possession, Diew’s got the put-back and drew up a foul shot in the process. On Dew’s miss at the line, the Marauders committed another foul that sent Cole Galsgow to the line. Glasgow hit both shots to make it 78-76 U Mary.A short time later, with less than 30 seconds left on the clock, U Mary fouled Walters. The senior hit both foul shots to tie things up at 78. U Mary was unable to record another score before time expired.”For me, I was smiling because we were down big and our guys fought all the way back,” Bruggeman said of playing in overtime. “It’s like we were playing with house money. It was a fun opportunity for this team to play another close game. These guys came here to have the opportunity to play at the Division 2 level so for them to have this chance to play teams as good as U Mary, it’s really fun for them.”The Marauders struck first in the overtime frame with a two-point shot from Coleman. The Jimmies responded with a 3-pointer from Hektner but three makes at the line by the Marauders put the visitors back in front 83-81. U Mary hit another shot to make it 85-81 but the lead was not safe.Walters completed a three-point play to make it 85-84. The two teams traded shots on the next two possessions to make it 88-86 University of Mary.Then Hektner got involved.The senior notched a timely two-point shot to send the game to double overtime.Walters scored first with a layup to give UJ a 90-88 advantage. The senior continued to produce, nailing both his free throws to make it 92-88. U Mary capitalized on the next possession but Walters stretched the lead back to four with another two-point shot.”We’re going to continue to put the ball in Ant’s hands,” Bruggeman said. “He’s a senior leader for us, he’s an unbelievable scorer and he put the ball in the hole for us.”Walters proved he wasn’t the only one who could score in pressure situations.A huge three pointer by Okehi made it a seven point game with 1:20 left. Okehi iced it with two shots made with less than 25 seconds left to play. Walters and Okehi were the top scorers for the Jjimmies, both notching 25 points.”Everybody plays their role,” Bruggeman said. “That’s what it takes. It’s going to take everybody playing their role well to win at this level.”Every game is going to be a fun and challenging opponent,” he said. “What you can expect from our team — we’re never going to give up. It might not always be the prettiest but we’re never going to give up — we’re going to keep working, we’re going to keep fighting and try to get better every week.”University of Jamestown 99, University of Mary 91MARY 53 25 10 (OT) 3 (2OT) — 91UJ 43 35 10 (OT) 11 (2OT) — 99MARY — Kelton Coleman 22, Cayden Redfield 12, Tamarrein Henderson 11, Noah Thomas 10, Tshawn Bois 10, Amare Jackson 9, Jackson Ware 7, Kenny Gonzalez 6, Relja Nagulic 4. Totals: 35-72 2FG, 13-28 3P, 8-16 FT, 24 fouls. 3-pointers: Bois 3, Henderson 3, Redfield 2, Thomas 2, Jackson 1, Coleman 1.UJ — Anthony Walters 25, Ford Okehi 25, Owen Hektner 14, Thomas Diew 9, Carson Woodford 8, Cole Glasgow 6, Zeke Austin 4, Davis Walker 3, Aiden Johnson 3, Henry Meyer 2. Totals: 32-72 2FG, 10-26 3P, 25-31 FT, 15 fouls. 3-pointers: Okehi 3, Hektner 3, Walters 2, Johnson 1, Walker 1.