ELLISVILLE – Jones led by six with 9:27 to play before outscoring Meridian 26-5 to run away with an 80-53 victory to close out the regular season home slate on Monday night at A.B. Howard Gymnasium.

The Bobcats won their fourth straight over the Eagles to improve to 21-8 overall, 10-3 MACCC and clinch a first-round bye in the NJCAA Region 23 Tournament. 

Meridian fell to 10-18, 2-10 in conference play.

Leading 23-21 with 7:31 left in the opening half, Jones started to create some space with a 9-0 run.

In a balanced first half, Jay Tyler had nine points, Braylon Barnes eight and Wesley Lindsey eight. JC led 37-30 at half.

Meridian opened the second half with the first eight points to take a 38-37 lead but that's when Jones turned up the tempo.

Five straight points from Dylan Rowe, including dunks by he and Keron Jackson, opened up an eight-point lead. 

Defensively, Jones held Meridian to five points the final 9:27 on 2-for-13 shooting and forced six turnovers.

Tyler, Jones' lone sophomore, closed out the game with two free throws and received a curtain call in his final regular season home game. He had a game-high 21 points.

Rowe closed with 18 points, six rebounds and five assists, Barnes 15 and Jackson 14 points and nine boards.

JC shot 46 percent against 32 percent for Meridian.

Jones closes out the regular season on Monday, March 2 at Southwest. They will host a region tournament second round game on Saturday, March 7 at 6 p.m.