MORAGA, Calif. — The Georgia Bulldog men’s basketball team fell to Saint Mary’s 77-65 Sunday night in the second round of the National Invitational Tournament at the McKeon Pavilion.
Georgia concludes the season with a record of 20-14 overall and 10-8 in the Southeastern Conference. Saint Mary’s moves to 29-5 overall and 15-3 in the West Coast Conference. Tonight’s game was the first meeting between the schools.
Georgia had four players finish the night with double-figure scoring outputs. Charles Mann and J.J. Frazier led the way with 13 points each, while Yante Maten and Kenny Gaines finished with 12 and 11, respectively.
“We were not able to get stops on the defensive end,” head coach Mark Fox said. “We can’t win unless we are getting stops on defense. Give credit to Saint Mary’s because they are a very good basketball team. We couldn’t finish plays on offense and are certainly disappointed in the loss.
Georgia jumped out to an early 4-0 lead, but it was the Gaels who owned the first half. Saint Mary’s put together two large runs that allowed them to take a 13-point advantage into the break. The Bulldogs couldn’t find their rhythm on the offensive end shooting just 29.4 percent from the field. Maten, Frazier and Derek Ogbeide scored six points each to lead UGA in the first half.
The Bulldogs wasted no time in their comeback attempt in the second half coming out of the gates running. UGA cut the Gaels’ lead to eight after Gaines stole a pass and finished with a big one-hand dunk before the first media timeout. Several minutes later Frazier drew a foul on a made shot to bring the Bulldogs within four with 11:48 to go. The Gaels answered with a 10-0 run, extending their lead to 14. Georgia cut Saint Mary’s lead to 10, but was unable to pull off the comeback falling 77-65.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2016/3/378905/bulldogs-season-comes-to-an-end-with-loss-at-st-marys