As of Saturday, March 9, 2013
© Copyright 2013
Gwinnett Daily Post
TUSCALOOSA -- Trevor Releford scored 19 points and hit a buzzer-beating shot from halfcourt as Alabama held off a late Georgia charge for a 61-58 win, boosting its NCAA Tournament hopes with their 20th victory.
Alabama (20-11, 12-6 SEC) will be the fourth seed in next week's SEC tournament in Nashville. Nick Jacobs added 11 points for the Crimson Tide, who nearly blew a 17-point first-half lead and a 12-point lead early in the second half.
Georgia (15-16, 9-9) battled back in the second half, tying the game at 58 on Kentavious Caldwell-Pope's long 3-pointer with 48 seconds left. The Bulldogs forced a turnover and had a shot to win the game, but the Crimson Tide forced the ball loose and Releford's heave from midcourt was on target.
Caldwell-Pope and Nemanja Djurisic each scored 14 points to lead the Bulldogs, who will be the eighth seed in the conference tournament.
Georgia trailed 13-3 four minutes in and was down 30-13 with three minutes left in the first half. Alabama led 32-18 at halftime.
Notes: The Crimson Tide receive a bye into the SEC quarterfinals on Friday. ... Alabama finished 14-for-17 from the free-throw line. ... The Crimson Tide won for just the second time in their past five games.
More like this story
- Lacey scores 19 to lead Alabama over Georgia ( January 7, 2012 )
- Creighton takes out Alabama in one-point thriller ( March 16, 2012 )
- Georgia men beat Vols to extend streak ( February 6, 2013 )
- Iona beats Georgia in overtime ( December 15, 2012 )
- Caldwell-Pope, Georgia top South Carolina in OT ( February 23, 2013 )
Comments
Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.
Sign in to comment
Or login with:
OpenID