Sunday, February 25, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Travis Jarome, Sports Information Director

NORTH GEORGIA WINS FIFTH STRAIGHT IN DII NIT
Half court buzzer beater leads Saints to victory

FORT MYERS, Fla. – March Madness, except it is in the end of February and the North Georgia College & State University Saints made their own NCAA highlight reel at the end of the first half Sunday afternoon.

Trailing by three following a three-pointer by the District of Columbia, the Saints in-bounded the ball to sophomore point Sam Crawford who launched a half-court shot. The ball found the net, and the Saints rode that momentum for remaining twenty minutes to claim a 79-71 victory in the second round of the Division II NIT here Sunday.

After a see-saw first half that saw each team hold the lead for lengths at a time, the second half started off much the same way until North Georgia took control.

Trailing 43-42 with 14:28 remaining in the contest, the Saints took the lead for good on a Jay Anderson three-pointer with 14:02 remaining – taking a 45-43 lead and igniting a 19-8 run over the next seven minutes of action.

Anderson scored six points, Buzz Wehunt and Anthony Rowe five each in the run that pushed the Saints lead to 61-51. After the District of Columbia went on an 8-2 run to close the gap to 65-63 with 3:46 to play, the Saints tightened up on defense and knocked down free throws to keep the lead.

Xavier Trice connected on a lay-up with 3:29 remaining to extend the lead to 67-63.  Rowe took a pass from Wehunt and laid the ball up with 2:50 to go, converting the free throw and giving North Georgia a 70-63 lead. 

Rowe was fouled on the Saints’ next possession, converting on one-of-two free throws for a 71-63 lead with 1:30 remaining.  Frank Peterson kept the Firebirds in the game with a jumper to trim the lead to 71-65 with 1:19 remaining.  Anderson, the leading free throw shooter in the Peach Belt Conference, stepped to the line with 1:03 remaining and hit both free throws to give the Saints a 73-65 lead with 1:03 remaining.  However, Peterson kept UDC (18-8) alive with a lay-up trimming the lead to 73-67 with 57 seconds to go.

The Saints hit 6-out-of-10 free throws in the final 43 seconds to capture the victory, and ensure themselves two more games in the 2007 season.

However, the game was not just decided down the stretch as both teams battled each other in the first half.

Finding themselves down 10-5 in the first six minutes of the contest, the Saints seemed to come out of their jet lag by going on a 19-5 run to take control in the first half.

Anderson drew the Saints to within three points, connecting on a lay-up with 12:01 remaining in the first half.  He then took a feed from Wehunt, following a steal, and converted a dunk on the fast break to trim the lead to 10-9 with 11:32 remaining in the half.  Following a Don Powell jumper that gave the District of Columbia a 12-9 lead, Wehunt tied the contest with a three-pointer with 10:46 to go in the first half.

The Saints took their first lead of the contest on a Trice three-point play with 10:33 remaining in the first half.  Trice took a feed from point guard Jakirra Millsap and hit the lay-up and the ensuing free throw for a 15-12 lead.  The lead grew to 17-12 when Anderson hit a 15-footer with 9:45 remaining in the half.  Following a free throw that trimmed the lead to 17-13, Trice struck again – this time hitting a three-pointer to push the lead to 20-13 with 8:33 to go in the first half. 

The District of Columbia cut into the lead with a Brian Adams’ jumper, but Trice was able to convert his second three-point play of the half to extend the lead to 23-15.  Wehunt converted on a one-of-two free throws with 6:28 remaining in the half, giving the Saints their biggest lead of the half at nine (24-15) with 6:27 remaining.

The lead, however, was short-lived as the District of Columbia went on a 14-5 run to tie the game at 29-29.  Charlie Smallwood hit a three-pointer with 1.9 second remaining to give the visitors a 32-29 lead, but Crawford struck back to tie the game at 32-32 and give the Saints the momentum heading into the locker room.

The District of Columbia shot just 37.7 (26-for-69) percent from the floor and 14.3 (2-for-14) percent from behind the arc.  Meanwhile, North Georgia shot 47.1 (24-for-51) percent from the floor and 40 (8-for-20) percent from behind the arc in the victory.

Peterson paced the Firebirds with 17 points, while Willie Shaw added 13 points and 10 rebounds.  Antwon Hawkins and Chris Smallwood added 11 each in the loss.

Anderson paced North Georgia (9-19) with 20 points and 10 rebounds, while Rowe added 19 points and eight rebounds.  Trice chipped in with 18, while Wehunt added 11.

North Georgia will play the winner of Florida Gulf Coast-Flagler on Monday night at 7:30 pm in the semifinals of the tournament.

 

-NGCSU-

Box Score

Return to Men's Basketball