navigator - Jacksonville University

16 THE NAVIGATOR • NOVEMBER 6-12, 2007 SPORTS
Men’s basketball
dominates exhibition opener
David Berry
Sports Editor
The JU men’s basketball team looked
extremely impressive in shrugging off the
off-season rust as they dominated Clark
Atlanta 80-56 in their first and only exhibition
game of the season.
Nine of the 12 players who got time on
the court scored, including three players
scoring in double figures.
JU owned the boards Friday night, with
a 35-21 rebounding advantage over the
Panthers. The Dolphins also hit better than
fifty percent from behind the arc.
Junior forward Marcus Allen had a
double double, getting 21 points and 11
rebounds. Sophomore forward Lehmon
Colbert, fresh off of his all-freshman season
last year, had 19 points and four rebounds
to go with it.
Freshman sensation Ayron Hardy, who
earned a starting spot from his play in the
preseason, was the third Dolphin in double
figures, with 13 points, 5 rebounds and
2 steals. Hardy also had he highlight of the
first half, emphatically throwing down a
dunk off of a Marcus Allen miss.
Freshman guard Ben Smith, who is now
the full-time point guard after the graduation
of Jesse Kimbrough, chipped in nine
points, six steals, two assists and three
rebounds.
JU will open its season on Sunday
November 11th, when they take on
Savannah State. The game will be at 4
p.m. and will be held in the Jacksonville
Veterans Memorial Arena.
Take a ride on the A-Train
The Navigator remembers
a basketball great
JULIENNE PEARSON
STAFF WRITER
From head to toe, a 7’2” gentle giant
once roamed the campus of Jacksonville
University. Leading the nation with an
average 22.7 rebounds per game, Artis
“The A-Train” Gilmore carried the 1970 JU
Dolphins to the NCAA Finals.
The next year, the soon to be famous
number 53 was named the 1971 Consensus
National “Player of the Year.” However, his
career didn’t end there.
That same year Gilmore was the
American Basketball Association’s (ABA)
Kentucky Colonels first pick in the 1971
draft. His year concluded by receiving the
Colonel’s “Rookie of the Year” award.
As a player for the Colonels, he broke
ABA’s single-single blocked shots record
with a total of 422 blocked shots. He also
broke the ABA’s rebounds per game with
40.
The following year, Gilmore was an
enticing pick for the NBA’s Chicago Bulls.
After six years, he aided the San Antonio
Spurs from 1983-1987. He concluded his
career with the Boston Celtics from 1970-
1972.
Gilmore is considered basketball’s best
left-handed baller, totaling nearly 25,000
points, ranking him 14th in the history of
the game. He also holds third place in the
record books for most shots blocked, with
a total of 3,178. The A-Train was inducted
into JU’s Hall of Fame in 1993, but is yet to
be inducted into the NBA’s Hall of Fame.
Awards
RENAE INGRAM
NCAA title game with Ju Dolphins
1970
ABA MVP and Rookie of the Year
1972
ABA All-star Game MVP
1974
ABA Playoff MVP
1975
NBA Career leader in field goal
percentage