Saturday, January 6, 2007

SAINTS FALL TO ARMSTRONG ATLANTIC
Short-handed Saints fall to Pirates on the road

Savannah, GA - North Georgia College & State University fell to Armstrong Atlantic State University 78-70 at Alumni Arena Saturday evening.

After being down 14-4 to open the game, the Saints went on a 7-2 run over 26 second span. Junior forward Xavier Trice started the run with a pair of free throws with 13:11 remaining in the half to trim the lead to 14-6. Junior center Robert Shoupes came down the floor just two seconds later and hit a hook shot to trim the lead to 14-8 with 13:09 remaining. Following an Armstrong Atlantic basket, Trice hit a three-pointer to trim the lead to 16-11 with 12:45 remaining in the half.

For the remainder of the first half, the two teams traded baskets, or went on mini-runs down the stretch to keep the margin at 12 points (36-24) going into intermission.

The second half was much the same story through the first five minutes with the two teams trading baskets, and the Pirates able to build a 16-point lead (50-34) with 14:10 remaining in the contest. The Saints used baskets from Colby Newton and Sam Crawford down the stretch to get the lead to under double figures with under a minute remaining, but were unable to overcome the depth of the Pirates, although they battled hard for the entire 40 minutes.

Trice led the Saints with a game and career-high 30 points on 9-for-11 shooting from the floor, and 8-for-13 shooting from the free throw line. Trice also pulled down seven rebounds. Sophomore post Anthony Rowe posted double figures with 12 points.

Armstrong Atlantic was led by Tory Harris and Brian Taylor, each with 12 points. Patrick Sanou added 10 in the victory.

North Georgia shot 36.1 (22-for-61) percent from the floor, and 20 (4-for-20) from behind the arc. They also shot 68.8 (22-for-32) percent from the free throw line.

Armstrong Atlantic shot 44.3 (27-for-61) percent from the floor, and 34.8 (8-for-23) percent from behind the arc. They managed to shot 69.6 (16-for-23) percent from the free throw line.

This was the second game the Saints played without seniors Dustin David and Buzz Wehunt, as well as sophomore Colby Shaw. The Saints also played without second-leading scorer Jay Anderson for the entire second half.

North Georgia (4-9, 0-2 PBC) host Lander University on Wednesday at Memorial Hall. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m., or 30 minutes following the women's contest.

-NGCSU-

Box Score

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