Wednesday, November 15, 2006

SAINTS FALL AT HOME TO WEST GEORGIA
Valiant effort falls short in final minute

Dahlonega, GA - North Georgia College & State University's rally fell short in the final minute, falling to West Georgia 73-66 in non-conference action here Wednesday evening.

After a first half that saw play suspended three occassions due to a malfunction in the clock, the Saints trailed West Georgia 37-27 at the break.

For the fourth consecutive game, North Georgia went on a run to open the second half - tonight on a 7-2 run to close the gap to 39-34. During the run, Buzz Wehunt connected on a three-pointer to open the second half to trim the lead to 37-30. Anthony Rowe followed up that possession with a dunk to close the gap to five at 37-32. Following a basket by West Georgia's Sheldon Harris, Wehunt hit a layup to trim the lead back to five at 39-34.

The two teams traded baskets over the next 17 minutes, with the largest lead being eight, 69-61 by West Georgia with just 54 second remaining in the game.

Wehunt hit another layup with 37 seconds remaining to trim the lead to 69-63, before the senior from Hoschton hit a three-pointer with 32 seconds remaining following a steal to trim the lead to three, at 69-66. Jonathan Smith connected on a free throw with 29 seconds remaining to extend the lead back to four at 70-66, and the Saints could not get any closer.

Wehunt, Dustin David and Brad Cochran all missed three-point attempts in the final 29 seconds for North Georgia.

West Georgia shot 45.9 (28-for-61) percent from the floor, while hitting on 30 (6-for-20) percent from behind the three-point line. The Wolves shot 52.4 (11-for-21) percent from the free throw line.

Meanwhile, North Georgia connected on 38.3 (23-for-60) percent from the floor and 32 (8-for-25) percent from behind the arc on the night. They shot their lowest percentage of the young season from the free throw line, connecting on just 57.1 (12-21) percent from the free throw line.

Terrence Hundley led West Georgia with 21 points, while Smith added 13 and Paul Harper 10 points in the victory. Henrick Foster grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds.

The Saints were paced by four players in double figures. Wehunt led North Georgia with 16 points on 5-for-10 shooting from the floor. David and Xavier Trice added 12 points for the Saints, while Rowe added 10 points and eight rebounds.

North Georgia (0-4) faces Reinhardt College Saturday at 4 pm.

-NGCSU-

Box Score

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