The Georgia Northwestern Bobcats led by one with 1:01 to play on Saturday, but visiting West Georgia Tech would break Bobcat hearts in closing seconds as they left Rossville with an 89-86 win, ending Georgia Northwestern’s modest two-game winning streak.
The Bobcats would lead by double digits for most of the first half and led by as many as 13 in the opening 20 minutes. But Joe Boyer would score 17 in the first half for the Golden Knights to keep them in the game.
West Georgia Tech began to slowly chip away at the lead in the second half, finally making it a one-possession game with 11:45 to go. But Darius Floyd would hit a 3-pointer for the Bobcats, temporarily pushing the lead back to six, 68-62, with 10:30 remaining.
A basket by Alec Rattanaxay maintained the six-point cushion for the home team with 6:40 to go, but the Knights would reel off nine unanswered points to take their first lead of the game, 79-76, with 4:44 left to play.
The two former region foes would go back and forth over the next four minutes before Floyd drained his third trey of the game to give his team an 86-85 lead with 61 seconds to go.
But Boyer immediately answered with his game-high 23rd and 24th points of the night and Daniel Parrish couldn’t connect on a turnaround jumper in the lane with 25 seconds to go, forcing the Bobcats to foul.
Bryan Foster would hit two free tosses to up the lead to three and that would be enough as Floyd’s potential game-tying 3-point attempt from the corner bounced off the iron with two seconds left.
Darrius Fugh and Parrish had 21 points each for Georgia Northwestern (10-9) and the duo combined for 12 rebounds. Patrick Simmons had 12 points on four 3-pointers, while Floyd had nine points. Rattanaxay scored just four points, but collected four steals and dished out 10 assists.
Donovan Grubb had 20 points and 18 rebounds for WGTC, followed by Foster with 17 points.
The Bobcats will get right back on the floor on Monday when they travel to Athens, Tenn., looking to beat the Tennessee Wesleyan University JV squad for the second time this season. Georgia Northwestern won the first meeting, 83-74, in Rossville back on Dec. 6.
Hiwassee College women 72, Georgia Northwestern 25
It was Pink Night for Breast Cancer Awareness at the Rossville Athletic Center, but the Lady Tigers from Madisonville, Tenn. left the Lady Bobcats feeling blue after a win in Saturday’s opener.
Hiwassee led 25-11 after one quarter and 42-17 at the break as they dropped Georgia Northwestern to 0-15 on the year.
Ny’asia Holmes led the Lady Tigers with 12 points, followed by Emily Ingram and Hailey Browning with 10 each. Hiwassee dominated the boards by a 58-31 margin.
Sharqueva McCoy had 10 points to lead the Lady Bobcats. Sprite Dyer and Taylor Hines added five each. Katy Phillips finished with three points and Carrie Benedict had two.
The Lady Bobcats will play again this Friday at 5 p.m. at Toccoa Falls College.