The Jacksonville Dolphins dove past the UCA men’s basketball team in a 72-62 victory, snatching the final points of the game in a buzzer-beating dunk.
Two freshmen, forward/guard Cole McCormick and guard Layne Taylor, as well as sophomore guard Brayden Fagbemi led the Bears (5-14, ASUN 1-5) with a combined total points of 51. The three players scored over 82% of UCA’s points, with Taylor bagging 20 points, McCormick scoring 19 points and Fagbemi netting 12 points.
Coach John Shulman said to ucasports.com, “We’ve got some young guys doing some really good things. The future is bright, but we have to go through a storm or two, and we’re going through some storms right now.”
The Bears opened the game with a 3-pointer from Taylor nearly a minute and a half in, only for the Dolphins (11-7, ASUN 5-1) to respond with a 2-point layup by junior forward Stephon Payne III.
Over six minutes into the game, the Bears charged forward, tallying up a six-point lead with two free throws from Fagbemi and a 3-pointer from McCormick. By the end of the game, McCormick landed five 3-pointers, the highest number of any player on the court.
Less than half a minute later, Jacksonville sophomore forward Tito Deng landed a 3-pointer, cutting the Bears’ lead down to 6 points, 8-5.
With less than 11 minutes remaining in the first half, UCA cracked the double digits with a jump shot from Fagbemi, putting the Bears at 10 points.
The Dolphins closed the distance to a single point after a layup from Deng and a fastbreak dunk from senior forward Zimi Nwokeji.
The Bears were able to reinstate their 3-point lead after a layup from freshman forward Nehemiah Turner, but UCA’s comeback didn’t last for long.
Jacksonville graduate student guard Jakari Spence landed a free throw shot with nearly seven minutes left in the game, sizing the Bears’ lead down to 2 points.
With six minutes and 21 seconds left, the Dolphins surpassed UCA for the first time with a 3-pointer by Nwokeji. Payne added to Jacksonville’s lead by 2 points with a layup, giving the Florida school a 3-point lead, 15-12.
A minute later the Bears took control of the court, scoring 7 points in 43 seconds, including a 3-pointer from Fagbemi. Although UCA managed to regain the lead, the Dolphins struck back fast, picking up 6 points – four points being two layups from Spence — and pushing past the Bears for a 2-point lead, 21-19.
The Bears attempted to come back once more with a layup by sophomore guard Michael Evbagharu, yet the Dolphins closed out the first half with a layup from junior guard Zach Bell, putting Jacksonville ahead 26-21.
Shulman said to ucasports.com, “I thought we fought, I thought we battled. They [Jacksonville] are really good and we led [almost] the entire first half. We just get fatigued. And since we’re missing some of our bullets, this team just has to play a little bit more perfect.”
The Dolphins continued to swim ahead of the Bears in the second half, coming out of the gate with a 3-pointer from Nwokeji. The Bears fought back against the current with a layup by McCormick, but Jacksonville quickly rebounded with a layup from Payne.
Almost two minutes into the half Layne scored three free throws for the Bears, yet the Dolphins stole their 8-point lead back with another 3-point shot by Nwokeji. Nearly 30 seconds later, the Dolphins capitalized on a layup from Bell, pushing Jacksonville ahead by 10 points.
UCA and Jacksonville continued to trade off the ball, the Bears unable to secure a lead, 46-37.
At just under 12 minutes remaining, the Dolphins surged forward to a 12-point lead after freshman guard Chris Arias scored a 3-pointer. Jacksonville extended its lead to 15 points only 29 seconds later when junior guard Robert McCray V snatched the Dolphins another 3-point basket.
With around 9 minutes remaining Jacksonville nearly hit a 20-point lead following two layups from McCray, but a 3-pointer from McCormick inched the Bears just a bit closer to the Dolphins, 56-40.
Following a jump shot from Taylor, the teams began to trade up free throws, the trance broken when Jacksonville snatched up 6 points with under six minutes remaining. Three of the points belonged to Payne and the other three belonged to Arias after another successful 3-point shot.
UCA redshirt freshman guard Ben Fox scored his only shot of the night with a three-pointer, the Dolphins clapping back with a layup from Payne 11 seconds later.
After Jacksonville bagged a 3-point basket, the Bears dominated the ball with a 15-point rush in the final four minutes, including a 3-point shot from Fagbemi as well as two 3-pointers and a dunk from McCormick.
The Bears managed to squeeze the point deficit from 19 points to 7 points, the Dolphins still ahead 69-62.
With only 30 seconds left, Jacksonville scored three final points, including a last-second dunk from McCray to close out the game. The Dolphins bested the Bears with a final score of 72-62.
With 12 games remaining in the regular season, the Bears will face off against the Austin Peay Governors at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 23, in Conway, Arkansas.