Jerry Nichols era opens with dominating win over Union College JV MORRISTOWN, TN

MORRISTOWN, TN – If Saturday was any sort of indication of how the Jerry Nichols era is going to go at Walters State, fans should have a lot to look forward to.

Taking on Union College JV, Walters State scored 59 points in the first half and then added 70 more in the second on their way to a 129-53 win.

With the win, Walters State improved to 1-0 on the season. 

"It's good to finally play another team," Nichols said. "We've definitely been grinding for the past few months. We still have a long way to go. There are the little things that we have to continue to get better at. Although the win was lopsided, there's some things we need to improve on."

One thing Nichols emphasized when he came to Walters State was the tempo that his team would play at. On Saturday, the Senators exploded from end-to-end, taking 92 shots in the game. 

Of those 92 shots, Walters State made 51 of them and knocked down 17 3-pointers. The Senators had 39 assists on those 51 made buckets and had 51 rebounds. 

"I think the tempo was there at times," Nichols said. "We were a little lackadaisical on certain things. You'll hear a lot of times four seconds, four seconds because that's how fast we want to score. At times, we just made the wrong read. But I thought we shot the ball extremely well today. We got contributions from everybody. I thought playing a multitude of guys, we saw our talent." 

Leading the way for Walters State were Jamar Livingston and JR Jacobs. Livingston was 8-11 from the field and finished with 18 points, while Jacobs had 15 points, seven assists and six rebounds.

"JR is a tough little customer," Nichols said. "If you look at what he did in high school, he had a couple triple-doubles. He'll go in there and isn't scared to rebound. He's playing extremely well. And Jamar is shooting the ball really well. He's finding spots and is where he should be. I think we need both of those guys to play well throughout the season." 

Along with Livingston and Jacobs, Ramondo Battle had 14 points but also grabbed six rebounds, had five assists and blocked a handful of shots.

"Ramondo is very, very talented, he's long and athletic and has a lot of skill," Nichols said. "He hasn't shot the ball well in the last couple games, but that's what he's known for. Once he gets his legs under him, he'll start making those shots. We're going to lean heavily on him." 

Other contributors for Walters State included Greg Moore with 18 points, five rebounds and four steals, Charvez Ambrose with 16 points and five rebounds, Malachi Hale with 12 points and four rebounds, Jair Horton with nine points and eight rebounds, Jaylen Wharton with eight points and five rebounds, Micah Simpson with six points and two assists, Nathan Beasley with six points and five rebounds, Carter Metz with three points and nine assists and Chi Shannon with four points and four rebounds. 

Things started quick for Walters State as they broke out to a big lead early and held on to that for the first 20 minutes. The Senators shot 54% in the first half as Jacobs had 10 points, Ambrose had nine, Battle had nine and Hale, Simpson and Wharton each had six. 

Defensively, the Senators forced 17 turnovers in the first half and Union College shot just 11-32. 

The second half was more of the same for Walters State as they shot 56.6% from the field and had 23 assists on 30 made shots. Livingston was 7-9 with 16 points in the final 20 minutes, while Moore had 12 points. The Senators held Union to 10-40 from the field and forced 13 more turnovers. 

Up Next:

Walters State will have a quick turnaround on Monday as they host Tusculum JV. Tip is set for 7:30 p.m. 

"I want to see our effort level defensively and offensively," Nichols said. "Our mindset, as well. We've got a quick turnaround and a practice on Sunday to play Monday. Sometimes, that can be challenging and tough, but we made it that way because we want it to feel like a tournament type situation. It'll be good for us." 

Rob Harvey

Walters State Community College

Sports Information Director

Cell: (423) 779-8880

Email: sportsinfo@ws.edu

Website: www.ws.edu/athletics