The Raiders closed out 2021 with a bang as they won three of the four games they played over the holiday break. They started off in Southaven for an overnight trip to DeSoto Central?s Christmas Invitational where they faced Millington Central (Tennessee) and South Panola. In their first game against Millington the Raiders used an 8-0 run to close out the game and pull a rabbit out of the hat as Graham Stevens put home the game winner with 13 seconds left as JA won 55-54. That was followed the next day by a thumping of the Tigers 53-39. After a day off JA was in Flowood for a pair of games against MHEA and Greenville Christian. In the first meeting against the Eagles of MHEA, JA squandered a great opportunity as they fought back from a ten point deficit in the second quarter to take a lead midway through the third quarter at 32-30. The Eagles came soaring back with a run of 16-4 to put the game away in the fourth quarter as the Raiders fell 57-46. In the final game of the week, JA had a chance to exact some revenge from last year as they faced the team that knocked them out of the Overall Tournament in the Quarterfinals, the Greenville Christian School Saints. JA trailed by 11 twice in each of the first two quarters before closing the gap to three at the half. JA started the second half on a 12-4 run that was answered by eight straight by the Saints as they led by one heading into the fourth quarter. The Saints scored 11 of the first 14 points of the fourth and led by 9 with 2:30 left in regulation. JA trimmed it all the way to three in the final minute and as the horn sounded Sam Gaylor hit a 30 footer to send the game into an extra session. JA outscored GCS 6-2 in the four minute frame and won 55-52 to finish the first half of the season at 14-6.

University Heart Players with The Most Heart
Dec 27 vs Millington Central, TN - Sam Gaylor - 15 points (5-7 3PT FG), 17 minutes
Dec 28 vs South Panola - Graham Stevens - 17 points (6-14 FG), 9r, 6a, 2s, 1b, 32 minutes
Dec 30 vs MHEA, TN - Josh Holman - 14 points (6-1FG), 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 29 minutes
Dec 31 vs Greenville Christian - Sam Gaylor - 12 points (4-9 3PT FG), 1 rebound, 17 minutes

Full Game Stats - JA vs Millington Central, TN
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Full Game Stats - JA vs South Panola
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Full Game Stats - JA vs MHEA, TN
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Full Game Stats - JA vs Greenville Christian
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