Dribble Dawgs Win Close One
By Danny Bishop
BASKETBALL
The Dawgs remain perfect at home after defeating the visiting University of Alabama at Birmingham Blazers on Friday night, a 66-64 victory from the Stegeman Coliseum in Athens, Ga. The win lifts Georgia’s record to 5-2, while it also hands the Blazers (6-1) their first loss.
An enthusiastic crowd of 7,253 Dawg patrons were on hand to witness a season high output from Georgia junior forward Trey Thompkins, whose 20 point, nine rebound performance seems to indicate that he has finally returned to full health following a preseason ankle injury.
“That was a really hard fought game tonight”, said coach Mark Fox. “Coming in, I felt like UAB might be the best team we have played all year. They play extremely well together and we knew this would real test. They are a team that is going to win 20+ games this season. We knew they would make a second half run and they did just that. I was pleased that our team was able to answer late and come out with the win.”
Thompkins led the Dawgs in both points and rebounds, but he was hardly without help in the hard-fought victory. Junior guard Gerald Robinson notched 13 points and five rebounds, including several highlight worthy finishes at the rim. Senior center Jeremy Price continued his impressive 2010-11 campaign with another solid performance, scoring 14 points and grabbing four rebounds. Sophomore guard Sherrard Brantley continued his impressive season from behind the line, scoring eight points and hitting both of his three-point attempts.
“I thought we rebounded the ball very well during the first half”, said Fox. “We talked about it at halftime that if we didn’t rebound just as well the second half, it was going to be a problem and it was.”
Georgia’s victory comes in their first home game in over two weeks, as the Dawgs spent the Thanksgiving holiday competing in the Old Spice Classic from Orlando, Fla., finishing 2-2.
The Dawgs’ next contest comes Tuesday night from Atlanta, as they take on their in-state rivals, the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. The game tips at 7:00 pm EST and can be seen on ESPN2, as well as heard on the Georgia Dawgs Radio Network.