Monday, December 11, 2006

WEST GEORGIA HANDS SAINTS FIRST LOSS IN NEARLY A MONTH
Saints unable to comeback in second half, winning streak halted

Carrollton, GA - North Georgia College & State University was unable to overcome a second half run to open the second half by West Georgia, falling 83-68 in non-conference action here Monday night.

After falling behind 29-21 at the half, the Saints were unable to answer a 12-0 run by West Georgia to open the second half that pushed the lead to 20, at 41-21.

The Saints went on a mini-run to trim the lead to 42-28 after a pair of baskets by junior Robert Shoupes and junior guard Jay Anderson. However, West Georgia had an answer to every run that North Georgia could muster, extending the lead to as big as 30. But the Saints did not give up, trimming the lead down to 13 with less than two minutes to play, before falling by 15.

The Saints shot 35.2 (25-for-71) percent from the floor, while shooting 32.1 (9-for-28) percent from behind the arc. They also shot 56.2 (9-for-16) from the free throw line.

Meanwhile, West Georgia shot 41.8 (28-for-67) percent from the floor, while shooting 28.5 (6-for-21) percent from behind the arc. They also shot 80.8 (21-26) percent from the free throw line.

North Georgia won the rebounding battle, 48-43.

Anderson led the way for North Georgia with 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Xavier Trice added 10 points and nine rebounds. Junior point guard Jakirra Millsap added nine points in the loss. Sam Crawford came off the bench to add nine points in the loss.

Terrence Hall led West Georgia with 27 points, while Jonathan Smith added 20 in the West Georgia (5-4) victory. North Georgia held the Wolves' leading scorer, Terrence Hundley to just five points.

The game was a story of two halves, as the first half featured good defense by both teams. North Georgia held West Georgia to 33 percent shooting in the first half, while the Wolves held North Georgia to 28 percent in the first half.

The first half was a two-man show for West Georgia. Smith (14 points) and Hall (13 points) combined for 11 field goals in the first half to help West Georgia take an eight point lead into halftime. Anderson led the Saints at the half with five points, while Dustin David and Trice were held to four points respectively.

North Georgia (4-5) returns to action December 30 in the Columbus State University tournament against North Carolina-Central.

- NGCSU-

Box Score

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