ATHENS (AP) — Georgia's Yante Maten was confident as he stood at the free-throw line with 36.1 seconds left in a tie game.
He felt like he would make both shots.
Maten hit those two free throws to finish with 21 points and lead the Bulldogs to an 86-82 victory over Oakland on Tuesday night.
Maten matched his career high in points, set in a loss to Seton Hall on Nov. 28, and also finished with a team-high nine rebounds for the Bulldogs (3-2).
"I love (Maten)," Georgia coach Mark Fox said. "I'm going to tell him that he probably should have had 25 or 30 (points), but he's becoming a pretty consistent performer for us."
Maten took extra pleasure in the win, he said, because he grew up about five minutes away from Oakland's campus in Rochester, Michigan. He sometimes saw games there and knows Oakland guard Kay Felder.
"A lot of my friends were telling me about this game," Maten said. "It's always good to beat a team from your home state."
The Golden Grizzlies (3-3) had a chance to either tie the score or take the lead after Maten's free throws, but Max Hooper missed a 3-point attempt and the ball went out of bounds.
The officials initially gave possession to Oakland, but after viewing the replay, gave the ball to Georgia.
J.J. Frazier scored 23 points to lead the Bulldogs. Charles Mann had 15 points, Mike Edwards scored 14 and Kenny Gaines added 10 points for Georgia.
"I'm proud of our team for beating a good basketball team," Fox said. "Oakland is probably as good as an offensive team we thought coming in as we have seen in a long time. . We had a hard time guarding them."
Felder, who entered 11th in the nation in scoring at 23.6 points, finished with 23.
Jalen Hayes added 23 points and Hooper finished with 21 on seven 3-pointers. Percy Gibson had 11 points and eight rebounds.
"I feel like we played pretty good," Hayes said. "I'm at a loss for words. I feel like we should have won that game. My mind is in all sorts of places. I just wish we could've come out on top."
Edwards hit two straight layups to key a 9-0 run that gave the Bulldogs a 74-70 lead with 6:40 remaining. Gaines capped the run with a 3-pointer, one of Georgia's seven in the game.
Oakland took a 77-76 lead, but Maten hit a jumper for an 78-77 advantage with 2:28 left.
Georgia hit its final six free-throw attempts.
"For us, to finish at the line 6-for-6, that's a big boost," Frazier said.
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TIP-INS
Oakland's Kay Felder entered the game leading Division I with 10.8 assists a game, but had five.
Georgia's Gaines has a combined 35 points in three games since setting his career high with 35 in a win over Murray State on Nov. 20.
BOMBS AWAY
Hooper hit two of his seven 3-pointers in the final six minutes, but missed a shot that would have given Oakland the lead with 24.3 seconds left.
The seven 3-pointers tied his career high.
CONSISTENCY
Oakland entered 14th in the nation with free-throw shooting at 78.4 percent.
The Golden Grizzlies improved that average by going 17 of 21 from the line (81 percent) against Georgia.
COURT AWARENESS
Georgia committed two shot-clock violations.
QUOTE OF THE NIGHT
"(Maten's) good. That's all I can (say). He works hard and God had blessed him with a talent. He's unselfish. We always say the game is fair and the way he works and how unselfish he is, the game is being fair to him." -- Frazier
UP NEXT
Oakland at Robert Morris on Saturday.
Georgia vs. Kansas State on Friday.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2015/12/353516/dogs-hold-off-oakland-for-86-82-win