Newberry Hands North Georgia First Loss of Season
NEWBERRY, SC
– The North Georgia men’s basketball team dropped their
first game of the year Saturday evening, shooting just 28-percent
from the field as Newberry College picked up their first win of the
year 69-52 over the Saints in non-conference action.
The Saints (2-1) were an abysmal 3-of-27 (11.1%) from three-point
range and had no double-digit scorers in their first loss of the
year. Kindall Butler, Bernard Rimmer, and Andrew Bennett led North
Georgia with nine points apiece, while Butler was just short of a
double-double with nine rebounds.
Newberry's defense was the star of the show, as the Saints were
held to 22 points in the first half. North Georgia was averaging
100 points per game coming into the contest. However, Newberry did
not run away with the game early. The scarlet and gray led, 6-2, in
the first two minutes before starter Ray Robinson left the game
with an injury. North Georgia surged to take the lead and did not
rescind it until Bakinde's fastbreak three-point play off of a
Huffor steal with 8:06 left in the half.
That play keyed a 10-2 run, giving Newberry a seven point
advantage when Jeremee Davis made a breakaway layup with 5:10 to
play. Newberry held North Georgia at arm's length and claimed its
biggest lead of the half at the very end when Aaron Edwards sank a
three-pointer from the corner just before time expired to give the
scarlet and gray a 30-22 halftime lead.
Newberry limited North Georgia's scoring opportunities in the
second half, as the Saints only connected on 10 field goals in the
half on 35 shots. The hosts held a double-figure lead for the
majority of the second half, but the Saints brought the lead down
to eight points with 6:09 to play.
NC responded with five straight points on a pair of Huffor free
throws and a Ryan Barnes three-pointer to make it a 13-point lead
at the 4:58 mark. The Saints would not get closer than 11 points
for the rest of the game, and Davis' free throw with 52 seconds to
play gave Newberry its largest lead of the game at 67-49. Buck Reed
made North Georgia's third three-pointer of the game, but Huffor's
dunk in the final 25 seconds sealed the deal for Newberry.
North Georgia returns to action on Tuesday evening, hosting Lynn
University in Memorial Hall with tip-off schedule for 7:00 p.m.