DELAND, Fla. - Down by as many as 18 in the early part of the second half, Jacksonville pulled to within three in the final minutes but host Stetson held off the Dolphins for a 70-67 win on Wednesday night at the Edmunds Center. The win by the Hatters splits the season series between the teams and leaves them tied for seventh in the Atlantic Sun Conference standings with one regular season game remaining on Saturday.

Jacksonville will end the regular season at home in Historic Swisher Gymnasium by hosting Florida Gulf Coast in a 2:00 pm contest.

J.R. Holder had a career night with 25 points shooting 7-7 from the foul line while adding six rebounds and four assists. Marcel White added 14 points for his four consecutive game in double figures.

"I think he saved us in the first half," said Head Coach Tony Jasick of Holder's 15 first half points. "His effort and energy stood out and thankfully so. "

A pair of free throws from Holder gave the Dolphins a slight 10-7 lead six minutes into the contest. The Jacksonville offense hit a cold spell after that however as Stetson used a 19-2 run over the next six minutes to seize control. The Dolphins which connected on 9-28 (28.1 percent) from the floor in the opening half, hit just 1-9 during the Hatter run.

"I thought they did a really good job of getting the ball in the paint and being strong with it," said Jasick of the first half by Stetson. "We did a poor job in the first half on the offensive end standing around and being very stagnant. When we play the game the right way and are unselfish we are pretty good. When we try to dribble one-on-five we are pretty average."

Two more free throws from Holder and a three-ball from Marcellous Bell in the final minute of the half pulled Jacksonville back to within single digits at the break.

In the second half Stetson hit its first three field goal attempts - all from beyond the arc - to help push the margin up to 18 less than three minutes in. The Dolphins slowing started to chip away cut the lead to four with the ball with 1:45 to go after back-to-back lay-ups by Holder. Jacksonville came up empty on the ensuing possession, but chipped away some more closing to within three with 35 second left.

"Give credit to the group that turn this into a game late," said Jasick. "Those guys came in, played hard, and fought like crazy to give us a fighting chance."  

Angel Rivera would then hit 4-6 free throws down the stretch to seal the win as he ended the night with a team high 14 points for the Hatters.