Jeremy Price collected 22 points and 14 rebounds and Travis Leslie added 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting as Georgia escaped with an 81-72 overtime victory over Auburn in Athens, Ga., on Saturday.

Trey Thompkins chipped in 16 points for the Bulldogs (16-6, 5-4 SEC), who trail Florida by 1 ½ games in an SEC East that has all six teams within 2 ½ games of the lead.

Georgia’s chance at earning an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament will likely be decided starting next week, when it embarks on a stretch of three of four games on the road against division opponents, including a trip to Florida on Feb. 24.

The Tigers (8-15, 1-8) hung around throughout, thanks in part to 30 points from Earnest Ross. Auburn trailed 38-34 at the break but quickly made up the difference when Ross hit back-to-back layups on the first two possessions of the second half.

The Bulldogs never let the Tigers take the lead but also could not get out too far ahead. UGA led by four in the final minute of regulation, before Ross again hit back-to-back layups, with a steal in between, in the final 13 seconds to force overtime.

Ross scored five more in overtime, but Georgia scored the final 10 points to close it out.