DELAND, Fla. – Jacksonville University men’s basketball team needed overtime to stretch its win streak to five games, but in the end the Dolphins (15-11, 7-2 A-Sun) emerged victorious, 96-88, over Stetson (9-16, 3-6 A-Sun) on Saturday.
“We’re now playing unselfishly and taking the shots we can make, which has led to our success,” said Head Coach Tony Jasick. “This is a unique environment to play in here at Stetson, and a lot of people struggle here, but I give a lot of credit to our guys who continued to play tough, even when we were struggling. I’d love to be that blue collar team in the league that’s hard to score on, that will fight you, and that has some toughness, and I think we’ve started that process with this club.”
The Hatters struck first in overtime, sinking two free throws to take a 79-77 lead. JU came back with a 10-0 run, taking an 87-79 lead. Stetson would come within six with a little over a minute remaining, but JU would sink several clutch free throws to put the game out of reach.
The Dolphins started the second half aggressively, scoring the first seven points of the half. But Stetson responded with a run of its own, 7-2, to pull back within two points, 45-43, at the first timeout on the floor. The two teams traded buckets for the next four minutes, with Stetson taking the lead, 55-53, at the second media. Out of the timeout the Hatters went on a 5-0 run, leading 60-53. JU fought back, outscoring the Hatters 18-2 over the next five minutes to lead 71-62 with 5:03 left. But Stetson answered again with a 13-6 run, forcing overtime tied 77-77.
Kori Babineaux had 28 points on 13-22 shooting. The senior guard also had seven assists and five rebounds. J.R. Holder had 20 points and 11 rebounds, his second double-double of the season. Adeyeye had 16 points and eight boards, Marcel White had 15 points and four boards, and Antwon Clayton had six points and nine rebounds.
“I think we’ve got more weapons offensively and defensively right now than we’ve ever had,” continued Jasick. “We’ve got a group of guys that can all come in and contribute. Some guys may play two or three minutes, some may play eight or nine, and some may play 35, and our team doesn’t have a big ego when it comes to that stuff.”
Stetson took an early lead thanks to Brian Pegg, who had 15 points in the first half but only two in the second half. But JU’s defense asserted itself, forcing the Hatters to miss four of their next five shots while the Dolphins scored six straight, giving JU an 8-6 lead at the first media stoppage. The Dolphins went on a 5-0 run out of the timeout, but Stetson responded with a run of its own, outscoring JU 11-0 over the next three minutes to take a 19-13 lead. At the third media the Dolphins began to chip away, taking the lead once again with less than a minute remaining. JU and Stetson were tied 36-36 at the half.
The Dolphins continue their road trip next week with a Thursday evening game at Lipscomb and a Saturday afternoon tip at Kennesaw State.