PBC Tournament - Keaton, Bobcats Edge North Georgia to Advance to Semis
AUGUSTA, Ga. - Shaun Keaton scored a career-high 34 points
Friday afternoon to lead fourth-seeded Georgia College & State
University to an 81-76 quarterfinal victory over fifth-seeded North
Georgia College & State University at the Peach Belt Conference
men’s basketball tournament held at USC Aiken’s
Convocation Center.
Georgia College improves to 22-5 overall and will meet top-seeded
Augusta State in Saturday’s 6 p.m. semifinal. North Georgia
finishes the season at 15-12.
Keaton, who is sixth on the PBC’s all-time three pointers
made list with 238, connected on 8-of-18 field goals, including
6-of-12 three pointers, and 12-of-13 free throws. Graham Martin
added 12 points, Ken Kemp 11 points and seven rebounds and Ty
Rowland 10 points.
LaBrian Lyons led the Saints with 24 points, six rebounds and
seven assists, while Andre Morgan added 14 points, Anthony Rowe 13
points and seven rebounds, and Xavier Trice 12 points.
After trailing the Saints 35-30 at halftime, GCSU tied the game at
37-37 on a Kemp three-point play at 17:51. The Bobcats took their
first lead of the second half at 17:28 when Rowland’s three
made it 40-39.
Keaton made three straight three-pointers to give the Bobcats a
52-48 lead at 14:02, then a Rowland putback stretched it 58-50 at
10:26.
Behind key baskets from Lyons and Morgan, North Georgia tied the
game at 64-64 at 5:34.
After NGC&SU took a 70-69 lead on Lyons’ three at 3:08,
the Bobcats took advantage of Morgan’s two missed free throws
at 2:28, when Keaton drained another three to give GCSU a 72-70
lead. Keaton added two free throws with 55 seconds remaining to
stretch the lead to 74-70.
The Saints shot 50 percent from the field in the first half to
take a 35-30 lead, while holding GCSU to 27.6 percent on 8-of-29
attempts.
After three ties and eight lead changes in the first half,
NGC&SU eased out to a 23-17 lead on a pair of free throws by
Myron Talbert with 10:56 remaining. The Saints biggest lead of the
half came at the 3:49 mark when Xavier Trice’s layup gave
them a 33-25 advantage.
For the game, GCSU connected on 24-of-59 field goals for 40.7
percent, including 9-of-23 three pointers for 39.1 percent. The
Bobcats were 24-of-28 from the free throw line for 85.7
percent.
North Georgia made 30-of-61 floor shots for 49.1 percent,
including 8-of-19 threes for 42.1 percent. The Saints also sank
8-of-12 free throws for 66.7 percent.
North Georgia vs. Georgia College –
Quotes
North Georgia head coach
Chris Faulkner:
“We defended pretty well in the first half. Holding a team
like to 30 points in the first half is tremendous. But they made so
many shots in the second half, and that was the difference in the
game.”
“We tried to go zone to protect some of our guards with foul
trouble. They probably had better looks because of that.”
“Two weeks ago, we were in a two or three-way tie for ninth
in the league, but we ended up fifth. We played better the last two
or three weeks of the season.”
Georgia College head coach Terry Sellers:
“Extremely proud of our team. We played extremely better in
the second half. It took all we had in the second half to pull this
off. It was the kind of effort we’ve had all season
long.”
“We were fortunately to be only down by five at halftime. We
stepped up the defensive intensity in the second half. It was a
tough game all the way down to the end.”
On playing Augusta State
in the semifinals
“Augusta State has a great team. It will be a great challenge
for us. We know we’re playing an outstanding a team and it
will take a great effort on both ends. But we are excited about the
challenge.”
Senior guard Shaun
Keaton:
“Every time it went up, it felt good. I’ve been taking
some more shots over the last few weeks, and it felt comfortable
out there.”