LEXINGTON, Va. – With less than four seconds to go,
Chris Arias put up a high-arching triple to potentially win Jacksonville's first ever contest against Virginia Military Institute.
Falling away between two defenders and a JU screener, Arias' heave at the basket soared through the sucked-in air as both benches and the VMI Corps of Cadets could only stand and watch.
After an eternity in the sky the shot went in, icing the game for a 69-67 Jacksonville win. The victory was Jacksonville's first road win of the season, the first win for JU in the ASUN/SoCon Alliance in two tries and the first win of a two-game road trip through Virginia.
Arias made eight 3-pointers on an 8-12 shooting night from deep. His 3-point make in the game's final seconds was Jacksonville's first go-ahead field goal winner with under 10 seconds to play since January 2022. Arias is also the first player since
Zach Bell in January of 2025 to make five of more 3-pointers in a single game.
Outside of his knockdown shooting, Arias set new career highs in rebounds (six), field goals made (eight) and 3-pointers made (eight).
Jacksonville (2-2) needed all of Arias' scoring Saturday afternoon in a back-and-forth contest inside Cameron Hall. JU led for over 33 minutes of the game, even holding a 66-57 lead with 3:43 to play but the Keydets would not go away easily. Late scoring saw VMI take a 67-66 lead with 16 seconds to go in the game. But that's when Arias hit his shot.
Arias led the game in scoring, his fourth game this season with over 12 points. In all four games this year Arias has made at least a trio of 3-pointers. He has had at least four makes from the field in every game.
Joining in on the scoring effort was
Jaylen Jones who finished with 17 points, just two points shy of his career-high of 19. Jones went a solid 7-9 from the field while also adding four boards and two assists, his seven makes setting a new career best mark for the guard.
Donovan Rivers had his second straight game with nine points. Rivers also added eight boards, his second consecutive game with eight or more rebounds. Freshman
Evan Sterck tied his career best in points (nine) while grabbing a new career high three steals.
Jacksonville and the Keydets sparred all through the first half with the game tied at 18 at the 10-minute mark. With less than nine minutes to play, Arias hit his third triple of the game to give the visitors a slight edge which they held into halftime, up 39-37.
The 'Phins stayed ahead to open the second half behind makes from
Jason Thirdkill Jr. (four points, two rebounds) and
Jaylen Jordon (four points, three rebounds). Freshman guard
Evan Sterck hit a triple, his only of the day, to put JU ahead 48-41 with 16 minutes left on the clock.
An Arias 3-pointer kept Jacksonville's steady lead up, giving JU a 62-55 advantage with 6:09 to play. VMI mounted a 12-4 run in the game's final minutes to take its first lead of the second half with 16 ticks left. Then, it was all Arias.
Jacksonville continues its trek through Virginia to Tuesday when it squares off against George Mason in Fairfax on Tuesday, Nov. 18. The game is the third straight road game for the 'Phins and fourth straight true road game in five total games for Jacksonville to open the season.
The Dolphins and the Patriots tipoff at 7 p.m. EST at George Mason. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
COMMENTS ON THE SHOT
Chris Arias on when the ball left his hands: "It felt great. The last time I made a game winner was when I was maybe 12. Hitting that in college was big. It felt great. My teammates were cheering me on from the sidelines. It was great seeing the crowd getting silenced after that."
Arias on his career scoring night: "Just a great night. I have been putting in the work. I felt good shooting in warm ups. So I knew I could have a good game today."
On the team winning the first leg of the road trip: "This is good. But we have to keep going. We have to keep working hard in practice. We have to just now focus on the next game."
THE SHOT
