Oxford, GA – Sophomore Mekhi George drained a triple as time expired to give the Men's Basketball Team a 99-96 victory over Georgia Gwinnett College. With this win, the Eagles improve to 10-2 for the season.
The Eagles had five players in double figures and were led by freshman JJ Halaby who scored 32 points and dished out 8 assists. Classmate Jermon Clark, who had the game-winning assist, scored a career-high 20 points, grabbed 9 rebounds, and blocked 3 shots. Sophomore captain Ryan Kwong scored 17 points while shooting 4 of 5 from behind the arc. Fellow captain Zane Patel had a productive night scoring 14 points and grabbing 8 rebounds. Sophomore Eric Lee scored 11 points to round up the night for the Eagles.
The Eagles had a strong first half by shooting 70% from the field while making 7 three pointers. This helped give them a 10-point lead going into the break. In the second half, the Eagles were held to 46% from the field while the Grizzlies shot 56% from the field. This helped Georgia Gwinnett back into the game. The Grizzlies outscored the Eagles by 7 points in the second-half.
How it went down:
In the final minute, Emory Oxford was up 96-91 when the Georgia Gwinnett came down and hit a 3 to cut the lead by 2. The Eagles take the ball out and decide to throw the ball the length of the court, but were unable to come up with it and the Grizzlies got the ball back on the other end. After a timeout, the Grizzlies dribble the ball down the court as they looked to take the final shot. They passed the ball around until one of their players drove into the lane and drew a foul on the Eagles. The player stepped up to the free-throw line and hit both shots to tie the game 96-96. The Eagles took a timeout to draw up a play. With 3.8 seconds to play, Patel took the ball out and was looking for Kwong to get open but the Grizzlies double-teamed him. So Patel threw the ball into his second option, Clark, who dribbled three times before passing it out to George who drained the three.
"It was a great atmosphere tonight and our guys battled until the very end," stated Head Coach Roderick Stubbs. "Mekhi hit a big shot for us and that will be a memory that will stay with him and all of us for a long time."
The Eagles will return to on Thursday against Southern Crescent Technical College. The game will be in Griffin, GA and tip-off will be at 7:30 PM.
