ATHENS, Ga. — After missing two critical free throws in the closing moments of regulation, Erving Walker found redemption by draining a game-tying three with one second left in overtime, igniting the Gators.
Walker’s shot forced an extra period Florida (16-4, 5-1 Southeastern Conference) would dominate en route to a 104-91 double-overtime victory over Georgia (14-5, 3-3 SEC) on Tuesday in Athens.
“In a situation like that, there’s no time to think,” Walker said. “You just have to be ballsy and step up and knock it down.”
Following a free throw from Jeremy Price that extended Georgia’s lead to three with six seconds remaining in overtime, Walker took the inbounds pass and drove past half court.
About 30 feet from the basket, Walker pulled up and drilled the high-arcing, game-tying three with just one second remaining.
“With him, it’s always got a chance,” coach Billy Donovan said.
Walker’s last-second heroics came just minutes after he cost his team an opportunity to seal the win in regulation.
With the Gators leading by four and 35 seconds remaining, Walker missed the front end of a one-and-one.
Georgia junior guard Gerald Robinson followed with a three to cut Florida’s lead to one, and Walker again found himself at the line with 21 seconds left.
This time, the junior connected on the front end but missed the second, leaving the door open for Georgia junior forward Trey Thompkins to score a tip-in at the buzzer and send the game to overtime.
“I was definitely kicking myself,” Walker said. “I put my team at risk with that. I should’ve been able to put the game away, but we battled and we’re just happy to come out with the win.”
The junior point guard followed his game-changing three with the first basket of double overtime, giving the Gators a lead they would never relinquish.
Florida dominated the second overtime period 19-6 thanks to the efforts of junior Chandler Parsons, who scored nine points and grabbed four rebounds in the final five minutes.
“I just tried to take over and be aggressive,” Parsons said. “I’m just going to play the same way I keep playing all year long, and I was fortunate to hit some shots and make some plays in double overtime.”
Although they were playing their third game in six days, the Gators looked to be the much fresher team down the stretch. Florida tied its highest scoring output in SEC games under Donovan just two games removed from putting up the fewest points (45) in the Donovan era Thursday at Auburn.
The Gators made 5 of 7 field goals in the final period while holding Georgia’s big three of Thompkins, Robinson and junior guard Travis Leslie to just three points.
“Putting us through that conditioning and all that stuff, it all paid off,“ Walker said. “Sometimes coach gets mad at us in practice telling us to run suicides. Those extra suicides probably helped us out here, that we had legs to finish it off.”
Although Thompkins, the preseason SEC Player of the Year, finished the game with 20 points and 13 rebounds, Florida defended him well after halftime.
The junior had just nine points and four rebounds in the game’s final 30 minutes.
“He’s a great player, so we had to know where he was at all times,” Parsons said. “Our whole game plan going in was the weakside guard sitting in his lap.”
