Thursday, February 08, 2007

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Jacksonville has created some magic in moving Downtown to the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena. The Dolphins (12-11, 8-5 A-Sun) extended their home winning streak to 10 with a 74-66 win over Atlantic Sun Conference leader East Tennessee State at home on Thursday night in front of a crowd of 2,041.

Freshman Ben Smith led the Dolphins with 14 points, while Jesse Kimbrough had 13 points and six assists. Tyrone Curnell came off the bench to score 12 points, pick up four steals and five rebounds.

The Bucs (18-8, 12-2 A-Sun) saw their 10-game winning streak snapped after turning the ball over 27 times with JU converting those into 26 points. ETSU hit just four 3-pointers - with Mike Smith and Courtney Pigram hitting two apiece.

"This was a complete team effort tonight as everyone contributed," said JU head coach Cliff Warren. "We've been preaching that everyone has to chip in for us to be successful and we did that tonight."

After being out muscled in a 71-59 loss at ETSU, the Dolphins battled on the glass, holding a 39-29 advantage in rebounds and limited the Bucs to just four offensive rebounds. ETSU had just two second chance points while the Dolphins racked up 10.