A running jumper by sophomore Marcus Hill broke a 57-57 tie with 43 seconds remaining in regulation, helping lift Jesuit Dallas to a 64-61 triumph over Irving MacArthur, ranked No. 22 in the most recent Texas Association of Basketball Coaches state ranking, on Tuesday evening at MacArthur High School.

Picking up their third University Interscholastic League (UIL) District 9-6A road victory of the season, the Rangers (14-5, 4-0 UIL 9-6A) swept their way through the three Irving schools on the road with Tuesday's historic victory. Jesuit Dallas defeated MacArthur (13-5, 2-2 UIL 9-6A) on Tuesday for the first time since the 2007-08 season, when the Blue and Gold swept the Cardinals both on the road and at Walsh Gymnasium.

Upending MacArthur for the first time under the tenure of head coach Chris Hill, Jesuit Dallas was led offensively by Hill, who netted 22 points on 9-of-19 shooting and four three-pointers, adding four rebounds.  Hill was one of three Rangers to score in double digits, joining juniors Mitch Prendergast and Jacob Palisch, who scored 11 and 10 points, respectively. 

Palisch was a key contributor to the Ranger effort, securing a team-leading eight rebounds, including four offensive boards.  Jesuit Dallas narrowly out-rebounded MacArthur, 31-26, but 18 second chance points proved to be the difference in the game, sparked from the team's 13 offensive rebounds.

Senior Ben Kunasek collected seven assists, and scored nine points, adding five rebounds.  Classmate Rusty Landon added six boards and a steal, causing one of 15 MacArthur turnovers that resulted in 12 Jesuit Dallas points.

Tuesday's contest was a back-and-forth affair from the opening buzzer, with the Rangers starting out of the gate to take an 11-9 lead with 2:34 remaining in the first after a three-pointer by Prendergast.  A jumper by Palisch and three by Hill, his first of the game, was answered by a three-point bucket at the first quarter buzzer by Andrew Jones, MacArthur's electric point guard, sending the game into the second with Jesuit holding a two-point lead.

After the Rangers used a 6-3 run to open the second quarter, capped by a three-pointer from sophomore Reid Hatzmann, the Cardinals erupted for nine unanswered points, stealing back the lead at 28-24 with 2:06 left in the opening half.  MacArthur's lead was short-lived, however, eradicated by a half-ending, 10-2 run by the Rangers peppered with baskets by Palisch and Hill.

Palisch started the run with a layup, and Hill handed the Blue and Gold momentum heading into the second half with a pair of three-pointers and a layup with 14 seconds on the clock, spotting the visitors a 34-30 advantage heading into the break.

The Jesuit Dallas offense struggled to start the second half, allowing MacArthur to slice the lead to a single point before another critically-timed Ranger scoring burst swung the needle back to the visitors.  An 11-3 run gave Jesuit a nine-point lead with 3:54 left, but once again the Blue and Gold could not put away the Cardinals, who ended the third with six unanswered points, sending the two squads into the final quarter of regulation locked in a one-possession game.

Sophomore Michael Jankovich hit a huge three-pointer with 6:24 left, burying a crisp pass from Kunasek to increase the Ranger lead to six points.  The two squads traded buckets for the next three minutes before a 5-0 MacArthur run cut the Ranger lead to 55-54.  Kunasek scored another key basket, bouncing an inbounds pass off the back of a Cardinal defender, recovering the ball and scoring the layup to return the lead to three with 1:50 left. 

Jones drew a traditional three-point play to tie the game with 59 seconds remaining.  On the inbounds pass, Hill took the ball, stopped just in front of the left elbow and released a floating jumper that fell through the cylinder to return the lead to the Rangers.  After a missed shot by the Cardinals, MacArthur was forced to foul Prendergast, who ended the game shooting 5-of-6 from the free-throw line. 

Trailing by four with 26 seconds left, MacArthur's Kenny Cooper buried a three-pointer to again reduce the lead to a single point.  After Prendergast hit a pair of free throws on the Rangers' next possession, the Rangers fouled Jordan Seals to send the Cardinals' guard to the free-throw line. 

Down by three, Seals hit the first free throw then intentionally missed the second, but Palisch was there to secure the rebound from Jones to seal the win for the Blue and Gold.

Jesuit Dallas will next welcome R.L. Turner to Walsh Gymnasium for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off on Friday, Jan. 15.