Jacobs buries its 3s, cruises past Kennedy

Jacobs' boys basketball team enters every game with basically the same offensive mindset.

Take what the opponents' defense gives you.

With Chicago Kennedy's sagging defense geared to prevent any type of inside presence, Jacobs took full advantage of open outside shots from beyond the arc.

Connecting on 8-of-10 from 3-point land in the first half and 9-of-12 for the game, the Golden Eagles cruised to an easy 71-31 victory over Kennedy in second round action of the Hinkle Holiday Classic hosted by Jacobs Saturday afternoon.

"Kennedy was very aggressive and active early in the game on defense," said Jacobs coach Jim Roberts. "They were stopping our penetration inside and we were able to get some open looks on 3s and we knocked them down."

Kam Mack made both of his 3s in the first half in scoring 17 points as the Golden Eagles (8-2, 2-0 in tournament) mounted an enormous 25-point, 44-19 advantage at intermission.

Mack ended with a career-high 21 points and played less than 3 quarters.

"I haven't scored a lot lately so I went into the game with more of an aggressive mindset to score and I wanted to take the ball to the rim when I could," said Mack. "They were giving us the 3 so I was able to shoot over the defense."

Ryan Phillips, who like Mack played less than 3 quarters, connected on 3 of 3 from beyond in the arc in the first half and scored 19 points for the game.

Ajani Rodriguez, Nik Balkcom and Matt McCoy off the bench also buried treys during the first 16 minutes.

Kennedy, which got 5 points from Justin Melendez, jumped off to a 5-2 lead with 6:08 left in the first quarter. Jacobs responded with a 14-0 run to seize control of the game. Phillips scored 9 and Mack 5 as Jacobs led 16-5 with 1:50 left in the initial quarter.

Jacobs ensured Kennedy wouldn't make any type of a second-half comeback by scoring the first 12 points of the second half. Phillips scored 6 points, Mack 4 and Jo Price collected a putback as the Golden Eagles opened up a 56-19 lead with 2:23 remaining in the third quarter.

Jacobs' biggest lead of the game came with 1:36 left in the contest when Jalen Ramsey canned a 3 for the Eagles' ninth and final trey of the game to give the hosts a 70-26 advantage.

With Mack and Phillips in double digits, Price added 7 points and 6 rebounds and 3 blocked shots off the bench for the winners.

Melendez paced the Crusaders with 10 points, 9 during the first 16 minutes.