Georgia (17-11, 5-10 SEC) responded late when it seemed like Florida (24-4, 11-4 SEC) had totally taken over.

A Walter Clayton Jr. 3-pointer cut the Bulldogs’ lead to three with 2:15 remaining, and Alex Condon made it a one-point game less than 30 seconds later. Thomas Haugh then gave Florida the lead on a layup with 1:16 remaining, putting the pressure on the Bulldogs to respond.

Georgia turned the ball over after the Haugh layup, and Alijah Martin knocked down one free throw to create a two-point game with 1:08 to go. Cain answered with a 3-pointer to give the Dawgs the lead after trailing for all of 20 seconds in the second half.

“When Coach called the play I knew what the play was,” Cain said. “Silas had been doing a great job of drawing two all night, and when he drew two I knew that would be open. And it felt good coming out of my hand, but I was just happy it went in.”

Newell stepped up on the next Florida possession by stealing the ball. RJ Godfrey was then fouled and delivered a pair of free throws to put Georgia up 83-80 with 35.9 seconds remaining.

Richard tried to answer with a 3-pointer but missed the mark, which led to a Newell defensive rebound before he was fouled.

Newell got his chance to close things out, and the freshman phenom did what he had to do. Newell hit the back end of two free throws, which created a four-point game with 21.6 seconds to go. He grabbed another key defensive rebound on the next Florida possession and hit both free throws, which officially sealed Florida’s fate.

Three Clayton free throws made it a three-point game with just over 6 seconds to go, and Demary was fouled on the ensuing inbound. Demary put the finishing touches on a great night by hitting both free throws, which made it a two-possession game with 5.5 seconds remaining.

Newell got one more rebound to seal the deal. He held onto the ball once the final buzzer sounded as he took in the moment.

“We faced a lot of adversity during the year and, you know, finally having a breakthrough, it was just a special moment,” Newell said.