Dawgs Round Up Bisons 84 – 75 In Men’s Basketball
Georgia Bulldogs guard Juwan Parker (3) Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
The Georgia men’s basketball team won its third consecutive game, beating the visiting Lipscomb Bisons 84-75 Saturday evening at the Stegeman Coliseum.
Georgia combined excellent three point shooting and three point shooting defense with excellent front line play from Nemi Djurisic and Donte Williams to secure an 18 point lead midway through the second half. The Bulldogs then employed poor three point shooting defense and sent Lipscomb often to the foul line. As a result the gap closed to 4 with 8 minutes left in the game. The Bulldogs returned to their early defensive form, sophomore Brandon Morris -playing primarily at the point for the injured Charles Mann – scored 11 points, and sophomore Kenny Gaines went 4 for 4 on free throws as the Bulldogs pulled away.
Georgia (4-4) was led offensively by Morris with 17 points. Djurisic and Williams also scored 15 and 14, respectively.
Taylor Echols, a second year walk on, played 23 minutes in the win and contributed a career high 9 points, as well as 4 assists and 2 steals. Freshman Juwan Parker scored 7 points and made 3 assists in 22 minutes. Postman Tim Dixon came off the bench to flaunt a new found confidence during 11 minutes, shooting 2 for 3, claiming 2 rebounds and providing 2 assists that resulted in thundering Donte Williams dunks.
“It’s good to win,” said head coach Mark Fox. “I thought we did some nice things offensively. We were able to defend pretty well in the first half and build a significant lead. One thing we talked about coming into the game was taking away the three-point line, which we did a very good job of after the first few minutes in the first half and then in the second half allowed ten threes. We just didn’t defend well with the lead, which is a real sign of immaturity. But it’s good to win and beat a real hard-nosed crew.”
Nemanja Djurisic (42) Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports
Georgia had a season-best day from the field, shooting 57 percent from the field, including 50 percent from the behind the three-point arc. Georgia made a season-high nine three-pointers (six in the first half) and had four players score in double figures for the second time this season (Morris-17; Djurisic-15; Williams-14; Gaines-11).
The Bisons were paced offensively by Martin Smith, 23 points; Khion Sankey and J. C. Hamptin, 13 points;and Josh Williams, 11 points.
The Bulldogs will return to action on Thursday against Gardner-Webb (5-5) at 11:30 a.m, in the annual School Kids game. Students from Athens-Clarke County schools will be in attendance as guests of the Bulldogs. Hot Dogs will sell for 1.00.