Georgia Basketball Takes First Step On Road To NCAA Redemption with Win Over Tide

The Georgia basketball squad bit off a juicy road win against Alabama in Tuscaloosa Saturday night thanks to a little one on one magic from Cameron Forte.

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With Marcus Thornton and Charles Mann disqualified with five fouls a piece, Cameron Forte pulled a rabbit out of his hat, spinning to his right on the baseline and stroking an eight foot jumper to give Georgia a  66-65 overtime road win over Alabama. The Dawgs  are 17-9 as they take their marks for the season’s final four game sprint.

The game was typical of late season conference play, – hammer and thong, nail and hammer – and broke down to one on one play late in the second half. With Alabama appearing to have the better one on one players, the Dawgs looked like goners. But Charles Mann redeemed himself for a bad luck turnover by taking a charge with 5 seconds left to get Georgia into overtime.

After Mann’s fifth foul and disqualification, Georgia turned to its hardnosed defense, hunkered down for a fight, and JJ Frazier found Forte hanging around the basket.  Forte made an atypical one on one play, spinning not to his natural and accustomed left, but to his right and finishing with a short jumper for his seventh and eighth points of the night. Georgia then defended the final two Alabama efforts.

Nemi Djurisic led Georgia with 14 points and seven rebounds, playing like his hair was on fire to open the game, claiming the Dawgs first four points and gobbling up loose balls and tipped rebounds. Charles Mann scored 13.

The game was nip and tuck from the outset with neither team gaining a significant advantage over 40 minutes. And the game finished with the Dawgs and Tide dead even in every meaningful statistical category with one exception. The Dawgs out shot Bama 70 to 51 percent at the free throw line for a three point difference. That and Forte’s final play were the difference.

With the Dawgs on a two game bad loss losing streak, this win is huge. A conference road win road will boost the RPI and bring a smile to the NCAA Tourney destinies. And with a game left against Auburn and Missouri, Georgia will go to Oxford to face Ole Miss with a chance to play for 20 wins before the season is over. Georgia will finish no worse than 4-5 on the road in the SEC for the second straight season.