Washington head coach Steve Flowers preached to his players about digging deep and finding themselves and on Monday night his prayers were answered.
The Pam Pack survived a late charge by Jacksonville to hold on a to a 52-47 victory and earn its first Coastal Conference win of the season.
“It feels good, really good,” Flowers said, as the win put a halt to his team’s seven-game losing streak. “We’ve been talking about reaching in and finding it and tonight I think they reached down and found it.”
Late in the second half it appeared Washington’s skid was about to hit eight in disappointing fashion as the Pam Pack, who went up 41-28, was losing its grip on the game as Jacksonville registered a 15-4 run that spanned over two quarters and left the Cards trailing 45-43 after a Dana Stone bucket.
Sensing the game was sliding out of control, Flowers called a timeout to rally the troops.
“They went on that run and I thought we were going to crack under pressure so I called timeout and when I looked in their eyes they looked fine,” Flowers said. “I told them it’s going to take defense. We had to get stops and they did that.”
That they did, as the Pam Pack (6-9, 1-7) held the Cardinals to three points over the final three minutes while it tallied seven to cement its victory.
Forward Stevie Green paced the Pack on offense as he erupted for 15 points, while Ty Copeland contributed 10 and D.J. Bell scored nine.
In the first half, Washington missed a total of 14 layups but still managed to maintain a 28-20 lead as it held Jacksonville to six second-quarter points.
After the break, a rejuvenated Pack offense displayed good ball movement and routinely sliced through the Cards defense.
“We started hitting layups in the second half and we got the lead and held on to it,” Flowers said. “We talked about attacking the zone at halftime and they did a better job of it in the second half.”
The Pam Pack offense looked explosive in the third quarter as Washington jumped ahead 41-28 when Bell drilled a three-pointer at the 3:10 mark.
It appeared Washington was on its way to a laugher when Jacksonville turned the tables and went on its 15-4 run, which was powered by the slashing Stone.
Jacksonville was led in scoring by Nigel Vialva, who scored a game-high 20 points, while Stone and Aaron Williams each scored nine.
Washington, which has had its bouts with inconsistency on the defensive end of the court this season, clamped down when it matter most.
“We’re not a good defending team. We’re not a good rebounding team. But, tonight we were able to do both of those things really well,” Flowers said.

Jacksonville 14    6    15    12    —    47
Washington    14    14    13    11    —    52
Cardinals (47)
Perry 1, Williams 9, Nigel Vialva 20, Bodette 2, Mulnix 2, Smith 5, Stone 9.
Pam Pack (52)
Moore 6, Whitley 6, Bell 9, Tyvon Copeland 10, Burke 4, Stevie Green 15, Peartree 2.