The VMI basketball team rallied late in the game with a 67-66 lead before Jacksonville scored a late three-pointer with two seconds on the clock for a 69-67 victory for the Dolphins.—Photo courtesy Barbee World Photography.
The VMI basketball team rallied late in the game to take a 67-66 lead with only 16 seconds left, but Jacksonville’s Chris Arias hit a late three-pointer with 2 seconds on the clock to lift the Dolphins to a 69-67 victory over the Keydets at Cameron Hall Nov. 15, 2025.
VMI (3-2) inbounded its final possession from the full-court baseline for a chance to tie or win the game at the buzzer, but ultimately resulted in a backcourt violation to allow Jacksonville (2-2) to escape with the win in the second annual SoCon-ASUN Challenge.
The Dolphins made it a point early on to establish a presence from beyond the arc as Arias hit five of eight three-point attempts in the opening 20 minutes for 15 points to give Jacksonville a close 39-37 advantage going into halftime. VMI’s T.J. Johnson ’28 countered with 14 points of his own on the other end as he went 5-7 from the field—including two treys—to lead VMI at the break. Mario Tatum Jr. ’29 had nine points in the first half for VMI.
VMI kept pace with the Dolphins the rest of the game—pulling within one point at 47-38 at the 13:31 mark following a Mason Hagedorn ’29 three-pointer—but Jacksonville built its lead back up to nine at 66-57 with just over 4 minutes remaining after a Donovan Rivers putback.
The Keydets clawed back into the game and pulled ahead by a point, 67-66, when Johnson earned a second-chance layup with 16 seconds remaining for VMI’s first lead since the game was tied at 20-20 midway through the first half.
Editor’s Note: This article was first published on vmikeydets.com.
