(JNS)

The University of Florida Gators scored an impressive 65-63 comeback victory against the University of Houston Cougars in San Antonio, Texas, on Monday night, securing the program’s third NCAA national title.

In front of a sold-out 66,602 capacity crowd at the Alamodome, Todd Golden—one of three Jewish coaches to lead his team to the final four in the March Madness—inspired his team to pull back a 12-point deficit in the second half, to quieten the San Antonio crowd in their home arena.

At 39, Golden became the youngest coach to win a national championship, since 1983, according to floridagators.com.

The result was touch-and-go until the final seconds, with the Cougars pressing for either a game-tying 2-pointer or even a 3-point basket to snatch the championship away in front of their fans. However, strong Florida defense meant the chance was blown, and the Gators ran out the winners.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was in the crowd in San Antonio and took to X to express his delight at the Gators’ victory.

Golden was joined by two other Jewish coaches in the NCAA tournament—Jon Scheyer of Duke University and Bruce Pearl of Auburn. Each of the coaches is proudly Jewish and has strong ties to Israel. Golden and Scheyer played basketball in Israel for Maccabi Haifa and Maccabi Tel Aviv, respectively, while Pearl brought his players on a trip in 2022.

Pearl also recently made headlines for speaking out about the hostages still in Hamas captivity, even receiving a call from a grateful President of Israel, Isaac Herzog. 

On getting their teams so far in the competition, Matt Elkin, CEO of the Jewish Coaches Association, said, “The success of these coaches, both in the NBA and college, is fantastic for the Jewish community. Now, when times are hard for Israel and for Jews around the world, this gives us a way to escape that reality and rally behind Jewish players and coaches.”