Sophomore point guard Lazeric Jones knocked down 9-of-10 free throws in the second half, including seven in the last few minutes to lift John A. Logan College to a 77-74 opening season win over Mineral Area College of Park Hills, Mo.

“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist or even a basketball coach to figure out that our intentions were to get the ball in Zeek’s hands down the stretch,” said Vols head coach Mark Imhoff. “In games like these, you have to be able to count on your sophomores.”

Jones finished with 19 points.

Forward Jesse Perry was another Logan soph who stepped up his game at crunch time. Perry finished with a game-high 21 points. Fourteen of those points came in the second half, including one 3-pointer.

“Jesse has come miles and miles from last year. You can see he’s much stronger and playing more aggressively inside the paint,” Imhoff said.

The Vols held a slim 30-29 lead at the intermission after trailing by as many as seven points. Logan’s largest lead in the second half was six points.

“I thought we got a little complacent in our half-court offense,” Imhoff said. “In fact, it looked a little ugly out there at times. Part of that’s because it was the first game of the year and part is because Mineral Area did some things that made us play that way.”

Sophomore reserve guard Devonte Maymon tallied 11 points off the bench for Logan. Kenneth Harris dropped in 10. Andre Clark flipped in seven, including a big three-point play late in the game. Isiah Simelton (West Frankfort) added six.

Riley Raulston led the Cardinals with 17 points. He bagged five 3-pointers, two of which came inside the final minute. Drew Thomas added 14.

Now 1-0, the Vols return to action at 8 p.m. Friday against New Creations Academy in opening round play of the Logan Invitational. They will then play Brehm Prep at 3 p.m. on Saturday.