DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Jacksonville Dolphins are headed to the championship game of the Sunshine Slam Tournament after a thrilling, come from behind 69-64 victory over Bethune-Cookman in the semifinals.
JU moved to 3-3 after the tournament win and will face the University of the Pacific at 1 p.m. EST at The Ocean Center in the final. The game will be streamed on BallerTV. It will be the first time the two schools have met in men's basketball.
Bethune-Cookman got ahead early on Monday afternoon with a 6-0 lead behind two makes from deep. For the entirety of the first half, Jacksonville had to battle from behind. The Wildcats extended their lead to 22-13 at the 8:53 mark. But Jacksonville would not be deterred.
Over the half's final almost nine minutes, the 'Phins outscored Bethune 17-8 to go into halftime tied 30 apiece.
Hayden Wood connected on a layup to take the score into half.
Out of the stoppage, JU and Bethune went back and forth before the Dolphins took their first lead of the game on an
Allen Udemadu free throw, to go up 37-36. Later, a
Chris Lockett Jr. layup extended Jacksonville's lead to 44-39. Just 50 seconds later, Bethune recaptured the lead and put Jacksonville back on its back foot.
It was Wood again who had an answer, this time with a 3-point make at the 6:20 make which gave JU a 57-53 lead. It took until the 1:45 mark and a Lockett Jr. 3-pointer to finally put the game away.
At game's end, a trio of Dolphins had made impacts that not only rewrote their personal records but helped lift JU to victory.
Making the start down low,
Donovan Rivers recorded a new career-high in scoring with 13 points. His six makes from the field also set a new career high. Rivers had nine in the first half, which led all scorers. He also tied the team-lead in rebounds with six.
Wood led the team in scoring with 15 points, also setting a new career best mark for the freshman. Wood had nine of his points in the final 20 minutes, finishing 2-2 from deep and grabbing a career-high five boards. His five makes from the field set a new personal best.
Fellow freshman
Evan Sterck scored all seven of his points in the second half. He dished out five assists over the course of the second half. His seven total dishes secured a new career high.
As a team, JU won the rebounding battle 38-32.
Jaylen Jones, who snagged six boards, added 10 points over the course of the game.
Chris Arias added four boards of his own.
Jason Thirdkill Jr. knocked down eight points and secured three rebounds over 15 minutes played. In his previous four Division 1 games with JU, Thirdkill Jr. had just seven points combined.
In the second half, Jacksonville essentially eliminated the deep ball from Bethune's arsenal, holding the Wildcats to a 1-8 mark. Bethune was scoreless from deep all the way until the 16 second mark in the second half of play.
Jacksonville shot a 47.2% mark from the field compared to Bethune's 44.4% tally. Rivers led the way with his 6-10 showing.
The team's attention now turns to Pacific (4-2) which dismantled Stony Brook in the semifinals, 86-58. Pacific posted season bests in field goal percentage and three-point percentage during its opening game. The Tigers also outscored the Seawolves 32-8 in the paint. The win marked Pacific's biggest against a D1 school since 2005.
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