Deuce Jones II’s Buzzer Beater Pushes Saint Joseph’s Past Temple

PHILADELPHIA— Deuce Jones II gave the Saint Joseph’s Hawks a buzzer-beating win over the Temple Owls in the third-place game of the Big 5 Classic on Saturday, Dec. 6, claiming a 70-69 win with his walk-off triple.

Deuce Jones II with a buzzer-beating three. Pandemonium in South Philly. Hawks win 70-69! pic.twitter.com/fTroIlWowi

— Griffin Floyd (@GriffinFloyd62) December 6, 2025

Jones, who finished with 17 points, scored the Hawks’ last ten: they trailed 67-62 with 75 seconds to play, but he sank a step-back three and a layup to erase the deficit. Jones fouled Temple guard Jordan Mason trying to rip the ball away on the following possession, and Mason sank both free throws to take a 69-67 lead with 15 seconds remaining.

After trailing early, the Hawks surged ahead with a 12-0 run that made it 22-12. Temple didn’t let them land a knockout blow, countering with a 9-0 run that closed the deficit to one point, but Saint Joseph’s managed to take a 33-25 lead into the half. Gavin Griffiths was the only Owl to make a shot from the field in the final 5:58 of the half, sinking a pair of threes on the way to a 15 point night.

Hawks’ center Justice Ajogbor added a double-double with 10 points, 11 rebounds, three blocks and two steals. Perhaps more impressive for a big man, he went a perfect 6-of-6 from the charity stripe.

Owls Heat Up

Derrian Ford (27 points) and Griffiths sank threes early in the second as part of a 16-2 span that put the Owls back in front, but Saint Joseph’s made three consecutive three-point shots, two of them from Anthony Finkley, to pull ahead 48-44. Another Ford three made it 52-51, forcing a Hawks’ timeout.

Back-and-forth play continued as Saint Joseph’s took a five point lead and lost it just as fast, falling behind on a 7-0 Temple run. Derek Simpson made a pair of free throws to pull the Hawks even 60-60, but Austin Williford missed his one-and-one attempt on the next possession as Saint Joseph’s failed to take the lead.

Griffiths responded with his fifth three of the game, backing the Hawks into another timeout and setting up Jones’ heroics.