Photo - Austin Lindell

JAMESTOWN - Trailing by as many as 15 points in the second half, the Jamestown Community College men's basketball team's rally fell short against Lorain County Community College Thursday evening, 62-57.

The Jayhawks (1-14) had a strong showing from freshman guard Ethan Clarke-Desouza (Rochester, NY/The School of the Arts), finishing with a career-high 23 points with Traden Gray (Frewsburg, NY/Frewsburg HS) adding 11 points. Freshman forward Gonzalo Luque (Madrid, Spain/Instituto Ortega y Gasset) had a strong night on the boards, grabbing 11 rebounds (2 offense, 9 defense).

JCC found themselves in a hole early in the game, trailing 15-6 at the 11:40 mark of the first half. The Jayhawks quickly cut it to a two-possession game with Clarke-Desouza knocking down all four free throw attempts.

Using an 8-0 run, JCC got their first lead of the game, going up 21-19 with 6:45 left in the first half. During the stretch, Clarke-Desouza made a pair of baskets with Brian Fajardo (Bronx, NY/Aeci Charter HS) and Gray making a pair of free throws each.

The teams kept slugging it out during the first half as the Commodores took a 32-28 lead into the break.

Early in the second half, Lorain County used a 19-7 run to gain a 54-39 lead with under nine minutes left in regulation.

Down but not out, the Jayhawks slowly chipped away at the deficit, cutting it to a three-point game with 22 seconds left in regulation after Fajardo knocked down a pair of free throws making it 60-57.

Needing to foul to have a chance, they did just that but Dontae Mosley made his free throw attempts to put the game away.

The Jayhawks went 18-for-55 (32.7 percent) from the field while the Commodores went 24-for-62 (38.7 percent) from the floor. Lorain County took advantage of JCC's mistakes, scoring 31 points off turnovers to the Jayhawks' 17 points.

The Jayhawks will be off for winter break before hosting Houghton College on Saturday, January 8th, for a 2 p.m. tip.