February 27, 2010

Box Score

DAHLONEGA, GA – The North Georgia men’s basketball team hosted 17th-ranked Georgia & State University on Saturday evening in both team’s regular season finale as the Bobcats pulled away late to claim an 84-68 victory over the Saints in Peach Belt Conference action.

North Georgia falls to 15-12 overall on the season, and end the regular season at 10-7 in the Peach Belt Conference, while 17th-ranked GCSU enters postseason play at 22-4 overall and 15-2 in league action.

The first 10 minutes saw neither team lead by more than five points as four lead changes led to North Georgia never leading by more than three points and GCSU holding their largest advantage at just five off a three-pointer from Ty Rowland at the 10:23 mark to make it 16-11.

With 5:04 remaining in the first half, North Georgia’s Bernard Rimmer was tagged with a pair of techincals, giving GCSU four free throws and a 10-point advantage at 31-21. The Bobcats led by 10 at four different times in the first half before the Saints went on an 11-2 run over the final two minutes, capped by a jumper at the buzzer from Keldrick Coleman to pull North Georgia to within a point at 41-40 heading into intermission.

Sophomore Tyler Norman scored nine of the Saints’ 11 points in the run, hitting a trio of three-pointers in three straight possessions to bring North Georgia to within striking distance at halftime.

The Second half proved to be even closer than the first as the lead changed hands four times and was tied twice in the first 10 minutes. The Bobcats then started to take over and pull away, creating their largest lead at 12 points with 6:21 remaining as Graham Martin hit a layup to make it a 67-55 game.

North Georgia would never make the GCSU lead single digits again, pulling to within 11 points at two different times, but never any closer as the Bobcats pulled away for the 16-point victory at 84-68.

Four North Georgia players finished in double figures, led by Carl Taylor’s 19 points, while Norman and Bennett tallied 15 points apiece.

Ty Rowland led all scorers with 26 points on 6-8 shooting from behind the arc, while Graham Martin was a perfect 12-12 from three free throw line for 19 points. Josh Hurst also finished in double figures with 17 points on 6-10 shooting from the field.

The Saints will now travel to Montevallo for the first round of the 2010 Peach Belt Conference basketball tournament. Tip-off against the Falcons is set for next Wednesday evening at 7:00 p.m. Central Standard Time.