Bobcat win streak at five with victories over No. 7 Augusta, USC Aiken, Ga. SW

The Georgia College men’s basketball team now has a five-game winning streak including an 85-83 triple overtime win over Georgia Southwestern on Feb. 16 and a huge 73-69 upset win over Augusta State on Feb. 10.

In the streak, the Bobcats have picked up a couple of spots in the Peach Belt Conference standings. The victory over Augusta State was one of the biggest wins in school history and has provided the Bobcats with a tremendous spark. After the win, plenty of excitement ran through the team.

“Augusta State is a great team. It was a close win, we really needed it,” junior forward Jared Holmes said. “Our greatest strength was rebounding. We came together as a team and everybody was talking and communicating and overall we just locked up.”

At the start of the game, it was the Jaguars that scored first but shortly after the Bobcats took their first lead of 6-4 with 17:54 remaining.

As soon as the Bobcats took the lead, they fought hard and were able to maintain  control of the game for almost the entire half until a three-pointer from the Jaguars gave them a 31-28 edge with 2:21 left in the half.

The Jaguars lead over the Bobcats did not last long because when 20 seconds remained in the half, senior forward Reece Wiedeman made a layup to give Georgia College a 32-31 lead going into halftime.

When the game resumed for the second half, Georgia College until at 15:42, when two back-to-back three pointers from the Jaguars gave them their first lead of the half with the score at 41-40.

Once Augusta State had this lead, they began to increase the point gap over Georgia College and when 12:53 remained in the game, a layup gave them their greatest lead of nine points with the score at 51-42.

However, the Bobcats began to decrease the deficit.

When just 4:30 remained in the game, Georgia College was finally able to take back the lead when a layup made by junior forward Jared Holmes gave the Bobcats a 62-61 lead.

From there, the lead changed hands several times until at 2:25, when freshman point guard Royal Thomas made two shots from the courtesy stripe to give Georgia College a 66-65 edge.

The leading scorer was Wiedeman, who scored 25 points and was 10 for 15 on floor shots.

“This win is one of the best feelings I’ve ever experienced in my life,” Wiedeman said.  “Augusta State had some really good shooters, but we were able to contain them and our point guards stepped up and played great defense on them.  We’ve just got to stay together because now its crunch time.”

On Feb. 12, Georgia College topped USC Aiken on the road.

The Bobcats took a quick lead early. When 7:45 remained in the half, two free throws made by Holmes gave the Bobcats their first lead above 10 points with the score at 26-15.

As the clock began to run out for the first half, Georgia College did not let up and held their lead over USC Aiken and when halftime arrived, they led 38-30.

When 14:51 remained, a three pointer from

the Pacers gave them their first lead of the half at 43-42.

USC Aiken maintained their lead over the Bobcats until two back-to-back three pointers from sophomore guard Nate Hamilton gave the Bobcats a 53-47 lead with 10:24 remaining.

Against Southwestern, the Bobcats jumped out to a 32-30 halftime lead.

At the start of the second half, both teams continued to fight.

As the clock began to run out, both teams tried increase the point gap in their favor.

But when the final buzzer rang, the Bobcats and the Hurricanes were tied at 63-63, and the game was sent into overtime.

In first period of overtime, the lead went back and forth. Neither team was unable to break the tie, sending the game to a second overtime.

After another five minutes, the game remained tied.

In the third period of overtime, the Bobcats were determined to not break their winning streak and managed to outscore the Hurricanes to claim an 85-83 victory.

Senior forward Josh Hurst was the leading scorer for Georgia College, tacking 21 points on the scoreboard.

Seconding Hurst’s efforts was junior forward Ryan Aquino, who had 16 points.

The Bobcats are back in action on Feb. 19 where they will face Columbus State on Homecoming Day at 5 p.m.

“I don’t think the team has reached its peak yet.  I think we’re close, I think our performance is close to our potential.  That’s what you always want, you want your performance to reach your potential,” Assistant Coach Mark Gainous said.  “The key has been the team play, the team work and the good high character kids in our program.”