Florida State forward Bernard James kiddingly calls Deividas Dulkys "the smallest 4-man in the country," basketball jargon for power forward.
Nevertheless, the 6-foot-5 forward from Lithuania claimed the biggest rebound of Sunday's ACC championship game. Dulkys came down with North Carolina guard Kendall Marshall's missed 3-pointer with six seconds remaining and then made both ends of the one-and-one after getting fouled. The points provided the Seminoles the three-point advantage that withstood the Tar Heels' final 3-point try at the buzzer.
Said James, "He got a grown man's rebound."
James might say the same of Dulkys' game performance overall. After scorching the Tar Heels for 32 points – his career high by 10 points – in FSU's regular-season blowout, Dulkys followed it up Sunday with 16 points, 12 on 3-pointers.
"Somebody said they need to give me Carolina blue contacts every game," said Dulkys, who had a small Lithuanian flag, a gift from a fan, tucked in his championship hat.
Dulkys' impact was not lost on North Carolina coach Roy Williams. This season, Dulkys has made 46 3-pointers in 33 games. He hit 12 of them in two games against the Tar Heels. Two years ago, he knocked around the Tar Heels for 17 points in a Seminoles win in Chapel Hill.
"He must like to see that Carolina blue uniform and play against it," Williams said.
Dulkys looked for his shot early, sprinting away from defenders off screens and firing up jumpers when he had an inch of space. Whether or not he needed it, he was making good on teammate Michael Snaer's encouragement to "just let it go" whenever he had room to shoot.
"He shoots his best when he's not thinking about the shot, when he's just letting ‘em fly," said Snaer, who had four 3-pointers of his own.
Dulkys made three 3-pointers in the first half, when the Seminoles pushed out to a 16-point lead, on seven attempts. The last time he'd tried that many in a game was his 8-for-10 game against North Carolina Jan. 14.
"I believe his confidence was through the roof [Sunday]," teammate Okaro White said. "He knew he had a big game against them last time and he stepped up [Sunday] and had another huge game."
He will have a place in Florida State basketball history for his plays at the end of the game, the rebound and foul shots.
"I'm sure guys boxed it out and I just had to go get it," Dulkys said of the rebound.
Dulkys admitted he was nervous on the line, given the circumstances, but went through his normal routine of spinning the ball in his hands and eyeing the rim before releasing.
"It's all about confidence," Dulkys said.
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