ORANGEBURG, S.C.- The Jacksonville men's basketball team fell to the South Carolina State Bulldogs in overtime by a score of 86-85 on Monday night.
 
Overtime saw South Carolina State record a dunk with 27 seconds left to take a one-point lead. While both sides gained another possession, and JU's defense forced a 10-second violation late, the one point proved to be enough for the Bulldogs to escape with the one-point win.
 
The opening minutes of the first half saw neither side gain control. Both the Dolphins and the Bulldogs put up two-point jumpers in the first four minutes, with JU's coming from Jarius Cook, along with a three-pointer, which Cook scored again for the Dolphins, earning him an early five points as a redshirt-senior.
Robert McCray V then took charge of the offense. With just over 13:30 left and JU trailing by one at 8-7, McCray caught a pass in the corner and drove the baseline, ending his run with a soaring windmill dunk to the delight of the Jacksonville bench, who were the loudest fans in the arena. Twenty seconds later, the transfer sophomore found himself open at the top of the arch and swished a three-pointer to give JU a four-point lead. The McCray show didn't stop there, as just another 20 seconds later, he read a poor pass from Omar Croskey, stole the ball, and raced down the court, hitting a circus-like effort and converting the and-one try to give Jacksonville a six-point lead.
 
The spark was quickly answered by the Bulldogs immediately as they scored eight consecutive points, capped by a Caleb McCarty two-handed dunk, giving South Carolina State just its second lead of the night. Jacksonville answered the call, though, responding with a 10-0 run. The burst this time was led by Marcus Niblack, who had five points in the stretch. Niblack also recorded a steal, as did McCray, who continued to light up the stat sheet and get the Dolphins back in the lead at 24-16 with just over seven minutes to play in the half.
 As the fouls started to mount up for both teams, the Dolphins still found themselves up nine with just over two minutes in the half. A pair of Bulldog and-ones were canceled out by Stephon Payne III and Jarius Cook going a perfect four for four from the charity stripe. South Carolina State refused to let JU pull away as the half entered the later stages, though. Mitchell Taylor and James Marrow hit consecutive jumpers to cut the lead down to five. McCray then made a layup, which was equaled by a McCarty dunk on the other end. The Dolphins closed the half with the final three points, including a Gyasi Powell steal to a Donovan Rivers layup, and JU held a 40-32 lead at the break.
 
To open the second half, both sides again took the opening minutes to gain any momentum. While the Bulldogs scored four of the half's first six points, a Payne tip-in and a Jarius Cook three-pointer saw JU regain momentum and take its largest lead at 11 points with 16 minutes to play.

 A quick rally from South Carolina State saw the Bulldogs go on an 11-3 run and get the Dolphin lead down to as low as four with 12:44 to play. A combination of Powell and Cook led to a Cook triple to get JU's lead back to seven, but the Bulldogs quickly put in a two-point bucket and tallied two free throws to keep the game at arm's length.

 A Deejuan Pruitt dunk was answered by a Bulldogs triple to bring the game within just two. McCray then hit one of two free throws, but South Carolina State answered with a double to bring the game back to within just one point. After freshman Donovan Rivers made one of two himself from the charity stripe, the Bulldogs' Mitchell Taylor hit a driving layup, and the game was all square at 60 apiece with just under eight minutes to play.

Suddenly the game was a shootout, and both teams took turns putting in two-point tries. A Bulldog jumper was answered by a Pruitt dunk. South Carolina State then had a dunk themselves, only to be canceled out by a Pruitt driving layup. McCray then had a steal and slam, his fifth steal of the night, which is a season and career high. The Bulldogs' offense was continuing to gain momentum, though, shown by six quick points in just over a minute of play, which saw the home side in the lead by four with 4:45 in the game.

The Jacksonville offense was reignited fresh off a timeout by JU coach Jordan Mincy. Marcus Niblack earned two shots from the charity stripe and nailed both to bring the game back within two. Jarius Cook then took a triple just 16 seconds later, and suddenly JU was back in the lead.

The lead was short-lived, though, as the Bulldogs recorded a layup through Shaman Alston, and the teeter-totter of a game leaned towards South Carolina State. A well-earned offensive rebound from Stephon Payne III and a personal plus a technical foul from Drayton Jones gave JU two free attempts, which Cook sunk both. Going back to the original Bulldog foul from Jones, Payne sunk both of his free throws, and suddenly JU had a three-point lead. Though that too was immediately canceled by an Alston three-pointer. Payne earned another foul with 2:30 to play, in which he sunk one of two tries, to give Jacksonville the one-point advantage, and this time, they wouldn't let go. A long offensive possession from the Bulldogs was ended when Rivers rose to the occasion, literally, and grabbed a rebound among two opponents. The freshman then earned a foul, and with the Dolphins in the bonus, hit both tries to see JU extend its lead to three points. With both sides trading buckets, it was the Bulldogs who had the last try in overtime as Atiba Taylor sunk a three-pointer to send the game to overtime.
 
UP NEXT

The Dolphins return home on Thursday, December 14 to play Trinity Baptist at Swisher Gymnasium. Tipoff is slated for 7 pm and the game can be streamed on ESPN+, or heard on 1010XL.

NUMBERS YOU SHOULD KNOW

• Cook had a season high 21 points.
• McCray recorded his fourth game this season with at least 20 points.
• Both Rivers and Payne tied for the team lead in rebounds with seven.