Jarkel Joiner left no doubt he would get his name in the Great 8 Classic record book.
Going into Friday's seventh-place game against Jefferson City at Fleming Fieldhouse, the Oxford (Miss.) guard only needed 13 points to break the record for most points scored during the tournament. It only took him 9:45 to surpass the mark but he didn't stop there, reaching 40-plus points for the third-straight game to lead the Chargers to a 73-67 win against the Jays.
"It's going to be tough to keep that kid under 40," Jays coach Blair Thompson said. "Garrett (Parker) is a pretty good defender, he's quick and athletic, and he still finds a way to score. He can do it any way possible."
Joiner scored 21 of his 41 points in the first half to help Oxford lead 41-25 at the break, but the Jays didn't back down from the challenge.
Jefferson City scored 42 points in the second half, more than it reached in regulation of its first-round game against Western (Ky.) and only six points shy of its total in a consolation semifinal loss to Father Tolton.
"It was by far our best half of this tournament," Thompson said. "We had a decent game against Western, and I thought that took a lot out of us. Watching that Tolton game, we weren't moving well and it was a tough one to take. But I do credit our guys for coming in today in a seventh-place game and playing hard."
Oxford's largest lead was 21 at the 4:52 mark in the third quarter when Joiner knocked down a 3 from the top of the key.
Then the Jays found an extra gear, scoring 10 straight points. Chuck Cooper scored four, including a 3 from the wing off a Parker steal, during the run.
DaMani Jarrett also had four points during that stretch, including an old-fashioned three-point play off an offensive rebound.
Charlie Wehmeyer capped the run with a second-chance bucket at the 2:15 mark of the third quarter.
Cooper, Jarrett and Parker were three of four Jays to score in double figures, finishing with 17, 13 and 10, respectively.
"We have some depth here, but we just have to find consistency throughout our depth," Thompson said. "The faster we do that the better off we're going to be."
Jarrett also led Jefferson City with eight rebounds.
"I thought he did a better job tonight at being aggressive," Thompson said. "We talked about it at halftime.We have to get something from the post."
Cooper scored the final points of the third quarter with a three-point play to cut Oxford's lead to 58-48.
Kamari Balton, who paced the Jays with 23 points, sprinted the length of the floor for a layup to start the fourth-quarter scoring. Balton and Joiner were named to the all-tournament team.
"Aggression is always our plan, whether it be getting the ball inside or dribble penetration," Thompson said. " We had some guys looking to attack and I thought we did a good job."
Jefferson City got as close as 64-61 following a Cooper layup with 1:40 left.
But the Jays were called for an offensive foul and made 1-of-2 at the free throw line in their next two possession while Joiner scored five points to extend Oxford's lead to seven with :16 left.
Joiner added four free throws in the final 10 seconds to help seal the win for the Chargers.
Joiner made 11 2s during the game, putting his tournament total to 35, breaking the previous mark of 32 set in 2009.
Joiner's first 2-pointer was a jumper for the first bucket of the game.
Oxford led 6-2 before Balton made his first of three 3s two minutes into the game.
The Chargers got its lead back up to six before the Jays scored seven straight points to take their only lead of the game, 14-13 at the 3:25 mark of the first quarter. A Parker steal and Balton 3 finished the run.
Oxford answered with a 12-0 run that ended with a J.J. Pegues second-chance bucket with 6:48 left in the second quarter.
Oxford outscored the Jays 22-11 in the second quarter to lead 41-25 at halftime.
Jefferson City (4-5) continues its run of tournament play Thursday by participating in the three-day Joplin Tournament.