Dorian Finney-Smith saves Florida with dunk, clinching block
The only basket Dorian Finney-Smith scored Tuesday night will be replayed over and over on highlight shows the next 24 hours.
With Florida and Alabama tied 50 apiece and less than 30 seconds remaining, Finney-Smith caught a pass on the left wing, shot-faked and blew by 6-foot-10 defender Jimmie Taylor. Six-foot-9 Michael Kessens was late arriving for help defense at the rim, so Finney-Smith took advantage, soaring for a picture-perfect one handed slam dunk.
Alabama still had one last chance to force overtime or win in regulation, but Finney-Smith erased that as well. He swatted away Levi Randolph's attempt at a game-tying layup, corralled the rebound before the ball went out of bounds and held onto it until time expired, sealing a badly needed 52-50 Gators victory in Tuscaloosa.
The heroics of Finney-Smith are a bright spot in an otherwise disappointing Florida season. The Gators (11-9, 4-3) began the year ranked in the preseason top 10 but failed to notch even one relevant non-league victory and have further hit the skids in SEC play, suffering three straight losses prior to Tuesday's critical win.
The narrow win is a welcome change for a Florida team that has lost nearly every tight game it has played recently. Six of Florida's nine losses have either come in overtime or by six points or less, and the most recent was a one-point loss at Ole Miss.
Finney-Smith saved Florida from suffering that fate yet again. On a night when he only had two points and missed the first five shots he attempted, Finney-Smith was still the Gators' unlikely hero.
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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
