Saturday, January 20, 2007

SHORT-HANDED SAINTS FALL TO AUGUSTA STATE AT HOMECOMING
Raucous crowd of 2,750 cheers on Saints

Dahlonega, GA - North Georgia College & State University continued to play short-handed, being outmanned by Augusta State 75-58 in Peach Belt Conference action in front of a raucous crowd of 2,750 for homecoming.

The Saints battled throughout the game to the deeper and bigger Augusta State squad, the leaders of the South Division, but came up short in the end.

Junior guard Jay Anderson did much of the damage for North Georgia with 26 points on 12-for-26 shooting from the floor. He also hit on 2-of-5 three-pointers and recorded seven rebounds.

North Georgia battled Augusta State basket-for-basket for the first 8:59 of the contest, tying the game at 16-16. After falling behind early, 9-5, the Saints made a push led by Anderson. He hit a 15-footer with 15:52 to go in the first half, trimming the lead to 9-7. After a breakway dunk by Tyrekus Bowman, Anderson hit another jumper to trim the lead to 11-9 with 14:49 to play in the first half. Freshman Colby Newton trimmed the lead to one with a free throw, at 11-10, with 13:26 to go in the first half, and junior center Robert Shoupes gave the Saints a 12-11 lead with 13:00 to play in the half when hit a turnaround jumper.

Following a free throw by Bowman tied the game up, Anderson hit another 15-footer to give the Saints a 14-12 lead with 11:12 to play. Garrett Siler used his height and size to his advantage most of the night, and tied the game back up with 10:53 to play in the half on an easy lay-up. He would then add another with 9:52 to go that gave the Jaguars a 16-14 lead. Anderson tied the game up 16-16 with 8:59 to play, but Augusta State took the lead for good with 8:39 to play on another Siler lay-up.

North Georgia shot 29.2 (21-for-72) percent from the floor, and just 21.4 (3-for-14) percent from behind the arc. They also shot 68.4 (13-for-19) percent from the free throw line.

Meanwhile, Augusta State shot 57.1 (32-for-56) percent from the floor, and 30 (3-for-10) percent from behind the arc. They also shot 66.7 (8-for-12) percent from the free throw line.

Bowman led Augusta State (14-3, 6-0 PBC) with 20 points and eight rebounds. He also blocked three shots. Silas added 18 points, six rebounds and four blocked shots.

Xavier Trice and Jakirra Millsap each added nine points for North Georgia.

North Georgia (4-14, 0-7 PBC) returns to action Wednesday on the road against Lander University. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m.

The Saints athletic department recognized Peach Belt Conference commissioner, Marvin Vanover, prior to tip-off and recognized many of the university's storied athletic letterwinners between games.

North Georgia also announced their 2007 Homecoming King, Bernie Richardson, and Queen, Elizabeth Flage, at halftime of the men's game.

-NGCSU-

Box Score

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