Saturday, November 11, 2006

LAST SECOND SHOT FALLS SHORT
Saints fall to Alaska Fairbanks at Disney DII Classic

Orlando, FL - Jay Anderson's last second attempt fell short, enabling Alaska Fairbanks to escape with a 79-76 victory over North Georgia College & State University here Saturday afternoon.

Following a turnover by Kenny Barker , the Saints' Buzz Wehunt hit the floor grabbing the loose ball. The senior was alert and called a timeout to set-up a chance for North Georgia with less then 35 seconds remaining.

The Saints' Dustin David was short on a three-point attempt, but the ball hit a Nanook and went out of bounds to give North Georgia another opportunity, trailing just 78-76 with 23 seconds remaining.

Anderson was one-on-one with Alaska Fairbanks' Jushay Rockett. Anderson beat him right, but the layup hit the front of the iron and went through a pair of hands into the waiting hands of Alaska Fairbanks defender.

The Nanooks' Barry Barnes, Jr. hit one of two free throws, but the second went into the waiting hands of Lee Burrell. The freshman's heave was wide left at the buzzer.

The last three minutes set the stage for the final few seconds, thanks to the hot-shooting of David. The senior connected on seven consecutive points in a 45 second span to tie the at 72-72 with 2:58 remaining. Unfortunately, Jakirra Millsap fouled out with 2:30 remaining, giving Barnes three attempts at the line - where he connected on two to extend the lead back to two (74-72).

The Nanooks extended the lead to 76-72 on a lay-up by Rockett, before Wehunt trimmed the lead back to two at 76-74. Xavier Trice hit a 10-foot jumper to tie the game at 76-76 with just 1:01 remaining on the clock to set the stage for the final 61 seconds.

"We came out really flat the first 10-12 minutes of the game," head coach Chris Faulkner said. "I felt like we picked up the intensity the closing minutes of the first half. I felt like we played with a lot of heart in the second half. We had a couple of chances to win it, but we got better."

The Saints shot 43.3 (26-for-60) percent from the floor, while connecting on 22.2 (4-for-18) percent from behind the line. They also connected on 71.4 (20-for-28) percent from the free throw line.

Meanwhile, Alaska Fairbanks shot 40.4 (23-for-57) percent from the floor, while hitting on 30.8 (8-for-26) percent from the three-point line.

David, Trice and Wehunt paced North Georgia with 12 points each. Anderson added 11 in the loss.

Rockett led all scorers with 26 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Barker added 16, Mike Titus 14 and Tyrome Flowers 10 in the Nanooks win.

North Georgia (0-2) plays Pace tomorrow afternoon at 6:30 in their final game of the Disney Classic.

-NGCSU-

Box Score

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