By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information

Kalamazoo, Mich.---Kenny Jones (Clay/South Bend, Ind.) poured in 17 points and 10 rebounds to lead the No. 20 Express men's basketball team to a 90-57 victory over Kellogg Community College in the KVCC Christmas Classic.

Jones, who had 15 of his 17 points in the first half, finished 8-for-13 from the field while adding four steals and two blocks.

After a slow start by the Express had them down 4-0 in the first 1:30 of the game, they rebounded with a 14-2 run to take an eight point lead with 13:57 left in the half. The run was capped by a lay-up from Jones.

Later, the Express held a 23-13 lead, but back-to-back layups from Jones started a surge over the final 10 minutes as the Express took a 48-28 lead into the break.

In fact, following a lay-up from Kellogg's Nathan Taylor pulled his team within 45-28 with 1:48 left in the half, the Express went on a 13-3 run - capped off by a dunk from John Murry (North Central/Indianapolis, Ind.) at the 15:37 mark of the second half to put the Express up 58-31.

Taylor would hit a jumper to pull his team within 69-47 with 8:45 left, but the Express closed the game on a 21-10 run.

While Jones produced a double-double, Bikramjit Gill (Our Ascension of the Lord/Toronto, Ontario, Canada) led the team in scoring with 18 points, while adding five rebounds, two blocks and one steal. He finished 8-for-8 from the field. That beat his 7-for-7 performance against Delta College on Dec. 6.

Shaakir Lindsey (Teaneck/Teaneck, N.J.) had another solid game with 15 points, seven assists, five rebounds and three steals. Murry added 12 points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals.

Despite a 1-for-20 performance from 3-point range, the Express held a 48-39 advantage in rebounds. Additionally, they also held advantages in assists (20-8), steals (17-7), points off turnovers (35-9), second chance points (17-8) and bench points (32-15).

The Express are now 11-3 overall. They have won five straight and eight of their past nine. They will travel to Lorain County Community College on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. matchup.

Notes

Jones came within one point of his season-high in scoring, which he set in the season opener against Washtenaw Community College. Today marked his first double-figure rebounding game of his freshman year, and it was also his first collegiate double-double.

Today's game was played at Kalamazoo Valley Community College in Kalamazoo, Mich.