Georgia 84, Lipscomb 75: Brandon Morris made the most of his first start of the season, scoring a career-high 17 points as the host Bulldogs held off the Bisons.
Georgia (4-4) played without leading scorer Charles Mann, who sat out with a knee injury, but Nemanja Djurisic hit three 3-pointers en route to 15 points and Donte' Williams added 14. The Bulldogs finished with a season-high nine 3-pointers, including three from walk-on Taylor Echols off the bench.
Martin Smith led Lipscomb (4-6) with 23 points, hitting four of his five 3-pointers in the second half. The Bisons rallied from a 19-point second-half deficit thanks to strong 3-point shooting, finishing 12-for-29 beyond the arc.
The Bulldogs had not played in 12 days and it showed early as Lipscomb built a 16-10 lead, but Georgia used a 13-1 spurt – started by back-to-back 3-pointers from Djurisic – to move ahead 23-17 midway through the first half. Echols hit two 3-pointers in the final 6 1/2 minutes of the half to help the Bulldogs build a 40-27 halftime advantage.
The Bisons played their way back into the contest with a 24-9 run – sparked by three 3-pointers by Smith – to shave a 54-35 deficit to 63-59 with 7:53 to play. The Bulldogs scored six of the next seven points and led by no fewer than six points the rest of the way.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Mann, who is averaging 14.3 points, is not expected to miss more than a couple of days with a sore knee. … Echols, who had scored nine points in five games, matched his season total Saturday. … Smith recorded five of Lipscomb’s 10 steals.
Lipscomb | Georgia | |
Martin Smith 23 | Scoring | Brandon Morris 17 |
J.C. Hampton 4 | Assists | Kenny Gaines 5 |
Talbott Denny 5 | Rebounds | Donte Williams 7 |
Malcolm Smith 6 | Free Throws Made | Kenny Gaines 4 |
Martin Smith 5 | Steals | Taylor Echols 2 |
Martin Smith 1 | Blocks | Kenny Gaines 2 |