Even with a late comeback attempt by Xavier, the Georgia men’s basketball team held their lead to advance to the next round of the National Invitation Tournament, with a 78-76 win.
In his first taste of post-season play, freshman Silas Demary Jr. stepped up with 16 points, netting eight in each half for Georgia.
When the game entered close territory down the stretch, Demary Jr. scored the last driving layup to put the Bulldogs up two more points.
“We’ve grinded out games a lot,” Demary Jr. said. “They went on a run, we went on a run ourselves, but they took the punch, and we had a little bit of adversity. But honestly, we just wanted to stay together and get stops.”
RJ Melendez also came out of the gate hot, scoring 14 points off the bench. At the end of the first half, Melendez nailed a fast break dunk in the last second to put the Bulldogs up 46-34, electrifying Stegeman Coliseum.
This lead, however, came into jeopardy when the Musketeers tallied a 16-6 run in the last six minutes of the game.
Following a turnover by Justin Hill with six seconds left in the game, the Musketeers were handed one final possession underneath their own basket.
Russel Tchewa came up clutch for Georgia, smacking a crucial block off the glass, holding Xavier to 76 points and saving the game from overtime.
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