The Georgia Northwestern Bobcats traveled to Powell, Tenn. on Thursday and found the surroundings to their liking as they posted their highest score of the young season in a 95-84 victory over The Crown College.
The Bobcats (2-2) led from the opening tip and went on to post a wire-to-wire win.
Leading 50-38 at intermission, Georgia Northwestern saw their lead whittled down to eight early in the second half, but the Bobcats would rally back. A steal by Kolbi Suttles led to a Cole McKeehan 3-pointer that pushed the lead to 18 midway through the second half.
The Royal Crusaders would trim the gap back to 12 points before Jay Wideman drained back-to-back treys to push the lead back to 18 with 5:30 to play. Crown would never get any closer than 10 points the rest of the way as J.T. Langford hit two buckets in transition to help seal the victory.
Suttles had the hottest of a hot night shooting for the Bobcats. He went 11-of-15 from the field and 1-of-1 from the free throw line to score a season-high 23 points. Tyler Phillips stayed hot with 16 points, while Davian Wheeler went for 12 points and six rebounds. Wideman and Deonte Jackson both added eight points.
McKeehan and Langford each finished with seven points, while Waters scored just five points, but helped out with a team-high 15 rebounds, five assists and two blocks.
After blistering the nets at a 61.8 percent clip in the first half (21-of-34), the Bobcats shot 51.7 percent (15-of-29) in the second half to end the night shooting 57.1 percent. They made 42.9 percent (6-of-14) from behind the arc, while holding Crown to 32.6 percent shooting and only 3-of-29 from the 3-point line.
Georgia Northwestern will play host to West Georgia Tech out of Carrollton on Saturday at the Rossville Athletic Center, starting at 3 p.m. That game will be preceded by the Lady Bobcats' clash with Trinity Baptist College (Fla.) at 1.
Saturday will also serve as the annual Food Drive Game with spectators getting free admission with the donation of a non-perishable food item.
Georgia Northwestern (2-2)
Suttles 23, Phillips 16, D. Wheeler 12, Jackson 8, Wideman 8, McKeehan 7, Langford 7, Waters 5, M. Wheeler 4, Kimble 3, Smith 2.
Trinity Baptist
Pepin 17, Boutchia 17, Mottor 14, Duffer 8, Sullivan 7, Thatcher 7, Parrott 4, Turner 4, Mooney 2, Taylor 2, Stewart 2, Wilkerson, Kraus.
Halftime: Georgia Northwestern, 50-38.
Waters: 15 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 blocks; D. Wheeler: 6 rebounds; Suttles: 11-of-15 FG, 1-1 FT