Noah Thomasson scored 24 points to lead a trio of double-figure scorers as Georgia outlasted Winthrop 78-69 on Friday at Athens, Ga.
Thomasson made five 3-pointers in seven attempts, but it was his driving floater in the lane that gave the Bulldogs (3-3) a critical seven-point cushion at 74-67 with 27.4 seconds left.
Winthrop’s Kelton Talford responded with a dunk to get the Eagles (4-3) within 74-69 but Thomasson answered again on two free throws with under 20 seconds remaining to keep Georgia out of reach.
Justin Hill scored 15 points and Jabri Abdur-Rahim added 10 for Georgia.
Talford led Winthrop (4-3) with 19 points, while Kasen Harrison scored 14 and K.J. Doucet added 10.
The Bulldogs shot 43.1 percent from the field (25 of 58), while the Eagles shot 42.4 percent (25 of 59. The difference was from 3-point range with the Bulldogs going 9 of 28 (32.1 percent) and the Eagles making 2 of 20 (15 percent). The Bulldogs had a 39-33 rebounding margin.
Georgia boosted a 36-29 halftime cushion into double digits in less than three minutes to start the second half at 43-33 and led by 15 points at 50-35 just over two minutes later.
The Georgia lead remained in double digits until Nick Johnson and Kasen Harrison teamed up for an 8-0 run that brought the Eagles to within 57-53 with 7:42 remaining.
It was still a four-point game at 64-60 with 4:53 left when RJ Melendez hit a driving layup and Thomasson followed with a corner 3-pointer to put Georgia up 69-60 with 3:40 remaining
The Bulldogs led 36-29 at the half despite going a stretch of over six minutes without a field goal. The Eagles overcame an early 11-2 deficit to take a 21-18 lead with 6:50 remaining in the first half.
Thomasson capped the decisive surge on 3-pointer with 14 seconds remaining in the first half and Winthrop’s Nick Johnson answered by banking in a layup at the buzzer.
The Eagles went through a five-minute drought of their own late in the half and the Bulldogs closed on a 14-4 spurt that included a 9-0 run that included a pair of 3-pointers by Thomasson.
–Field Level Media