NCAA Men's Regional - Dunn, Barton Win Thriller over GCSU 80-78
L.J. Dunn’s baseline jumper with 1.8 seconds left gave
fifth-seeded Barton a thrilling 80-78 win over Georgia College
& State University in the first round of the NCAA Southeast
Region tournament in Augusta, Ga. Dunn’s heroics came after
an improbable four-point rally by GCSU in the final 35 seconds.
With the win Barton (25-6) advances to the regional semifinal where
they will meet top-seeded host Augusta State on Sunday at 7:30.
GCSU sees their season come to a close with a 22-7 record.
Down 77-73 with 35 seconds to go, GCSU’s Shaun Keaton hit a
three-pointer with 19 seconds to left. On the ensuing foul,
Barton’s Jaren Haley hit one of two free throws for a
two-point lead. Keaton was then fouled driving down the sideline
and hit both of his free throws to tie the game at 78 with 14
seconds left. Barton inbounded and Dunn was left alone on the
baseline 12 feet from the hoop.
Dunn led Barton with 21 points, hitting eight of 12 from the field
and grabbing six rebounds. Bobby Buffaloe added 17 including a trio
of three-pointers, all in the second half. Greg Mammel added 10
points while David King led the Bulldogs with seven rebounds.
Keaton scored the final eight points for the Bobcats over the last
1:07 of the game and led the team with 25 points. Graham Martin
added 13 points and a game-high nine rebounds while Ty Rowland put
in 10.
GCSU hit three of their first four shots from the field to race
out to a 9-4 lead to begin the game. Barton answered with seven
straight points including a three from Suggs and tied the game at
14 on a Dunn free throw. The game remained nip-and-tuck for the
next three minutes and was tied at 20 until the Bobcats went on an
8-0 run sparked by a Keaton jumper as four different players put in
buckets.
Barton cut the lead down to six with 2:42 to play on a layup from
David King, but was immediately answered by a Ty Rowland
three-pointer to give GCSU a nine-point lead, their largest of the
half and they led at the break 37-30.
GCSU increased that lead to as many as nine in the second half,
leading 51-42 with under 13 minutes to play when Barton responded
yet again with 12-2 run to take their first lead of the half. L.J.
Dunn had back-to-back layups followed by a Buffaloe three-pointer
to give the Bulldogs the 53-51 lead with 10:59 to play.
The two teams traded the lead eight times over the next seven
minutes until a layup from Barton’s Errol Frails put the
Bulldogs up 69-67 with 2:27 to go. A Buffaloe three-pointer pushed
that to five points and Barton would never trail again.
Barton shot 47% from the field for the game, 65% in the second
half. The Bulldogs were nearly unstoppable from long range in the
final 20 minutes hitting eight of 10 three-pointers. GCSU hit 48%
for the game and drained 22 of 27 free throws. Barton made only
nine of their 20 free throw attempts while GCSU was 6-23 from
three-point range (.261).