>> GEORGIA COLLEGE
A pair of last-second free throws by Suwannee’s Brendan Rigsbee gave the Georgia College & State University (GCSU) men’s basketball team (7-14, 3-9 PBC) an 89-88 upset win at Flagler College Feb. 1, but three days later came an 86-61 loss at Augusta University (AU).
The Bobcats led most of the time through the opening half against Flagler and headed to the locker room with a slim 46-44 lead.
Both teams traded a back-and-forth lead throughout the second half. With 10 seconds to go, the Saints banked a bucket from behind the arc to boost them to an 88-87 advantage.
That’s when Rigsbee got the ball, charged the hoop and drew a foul to bring him to the free-throw stripe – where he nailed both shots and gave the Bobcats a one-point lead with 1.1 seconds left that ultimately won the game.
Georgia College had four double-digit scorers in its effort, including Austin Sloan, who iced a career-high 24 points to lead the offense. Sloan went 8-for-11, shooting an impressive 6-for-9 from behind the arc. He also shot 100% from the free-throw line.
Rigsbee was the GCSU squad's secondleading scorer, knocking down 18 points after going 8-for-12 from field-goal range and also shooting 100% from the freethrow line. Crawford was right behind Rigsbee in points, nailing 16, including five field goals with three from behind the arc, and Chapin Rierson rounded out the double-digit scoring with 11 points on the night. Rierson went 4-for-6 from the floor and 3-for-5 from three-point range.
Sloan also led the team in rebounds nabbing seven under the Saints' basket and two under the Bobcat's basket. Rigsbee was GCSU’s second-leading rebounder with seven, including six under the Flagler basket.
The Bobcats kept going in conference play Feb. 4, on the road in Augusta.
The first half was a rough 20 minutes for GCSU as the Jaguars put up 55 points to the Bobcats’ 27, but the second half was in the Bobcats’ favor as they outscored Augusta 34-31. Still, the Jaguars’ dominant first half was enough to secure the win.
The Bobcats had three double-digit scorers on the afternoon, including Ian Davis from Lawrenceville, who led the charge by tying his career high of 15 points. Davis did most of his damage from the free-throw line as he went 9-for-10 there. He added two baskets from behind the arc, as well as four assists to round out an impressive offensive performance.
Rigsbee and Sloan rounded out the double-digit scoring with 11 points apiece. Rigsbee went 4-for-9 from the floor including a three-point bucket, while Sloan netted a trio of three-point scores.
On the rebounding side of things, Rigsbee missed the double-double mark by a single rebound as he nabbed nine in the contest, including six beneath the Jaguar basket. AJ James was GCSU's second-leading rebounder with eight.
After playing USC Aiken at home Wednesday night this week, the Bobcats are next in action Feb. 11, at Georgia Southwestern State University. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m., with live stats and broadcast links available at GCBobcats. com.