ATLANTA – There were no moral victories for Georgia coach Mike White after falling to Georgia Tech Tuesday night, 79-77.
“That’s ones hard to swallow,” White said. “We did a lot really well and we were in position, in the end, great position, but they made plays down the stretch.”
Unfortunately for the Bulldogs (7-3), Georgia went scoreless in the final 2:12 of the game.
The Dawgs certainly had their opportunities.
The second half saw 15 lead changes before a tip-in by Frank Anselem and a drive by Terry Roberts put Georgia up 77-73 at the 2:11 mark, forcing a timeout by Georgia Tech.
Georgia would miss an opportunity to extend the lead further, but after a missed three by Roberts, Miles Kelly answered with one of his own to cut the lead to 77-76 with 1:03 left.
Following a Bulldog turnover, a drive by Kelly put Tech back up by one, bringing a timeout by White with 23.8 seconds remaining.
White put the ball in the hands of Roberts, whose shot was blocked out of bounds. On the inbound, some confusion led to Roberts throwing the ball right into the hands of Jalon Moore, who was immediately fouled.
However, Moore would miss his first free throw attempt, and after converting his second, Georgia had one final opportunity to win the game, but Roberts was called for a charge with just over two seconds to play.
On the inbound, Georgia returned the favor when Roberts stole the ball and handed to Oquendo who launched a shot from near midcourt only to have it bounce off the back rim as the buzzer sounded.
“We’ve got to replicate that moment because I’m pretty sure we’ll be in more moments like that,” Oquendo said. “We’ve just got to settle guys in a little more.”
Roberts led the Bulldogs with 16 points, but after his two turnovers in the final minutes, he blamed himself for the loss.
“He feels like he lost the game for us, but I told him, he didn’t lose it, we all lost it,” said Oquendo, who added 15 points, followed by Mathew-Alexander Moncrieffe with 11.
Georgia trailed for most of the first half until a three-point play by Oquendo put the Bulldogs up for the first time at 26-24 at the 7:03 mark.
Tech would quickly tie the game, but Georgia stayed strong.
A three-point play by Jailyn Ingram put the Bulldogs up by three and started an 11-2 run to close the first half. A pair of layups by Roberts sent Georgia into the locker room up 39-34.
It was a solid first half by the Bulldogs, who shot 55.2 percent (16 of 29), while holding Georgia Tech to 40.5 (15 of 37).
There was some good news.
Oquendo (knee) and Moncrieffe (ankle) both returned after missing the past two games. Roberts (illness) and Frank Anselem (illness) were also back after sitting out Friday’s contest against Florida A&M.
However, the Bulldogs still were not at full strength.
Freshman KyeRon Lindsay and Alabama transfer Jusaun Holt each remained in Athens due to illness of their own.
“I told our guys after the game, you’ve been hurt, you’ve been sick, you’ve been hurt, you’ve been sick, you’ve been sick, you had one practice, you just came back this morning,” White said. “I told them I was proud to be in the foxhole with those guys. It was a great effort by our guys. I’m not pleased that we lost, I’ll never be pleased with it, and I’m not pleased we lost to Georgia Tech. But they’re good, we respect their program. I think we got better tonight.”
