Zyair Greene and Brendan Rigsbee combined for 51 points as Georgia College & State University (GCSU) defeated Saint Leo University (SLU) 97-92 in a non-conference men's basketball game on Nov. 17 at the Marion Bowman Center in Florida.
The GCSU Bobcats are playing their first 11 games on the road. With the win, GCSU improved to 3-0, while the Lions fell to 1-2.
Saint Leo led 48-43 at the half, but the Bobcats, who shot 72 percent (18-of-25) from the field and hit 6-of-10 three-pointers in the final 20 minutes, outscored the Lions 54-44 in the second half. Greene scored 18 of his game-high 26 points and Rigsbee threw in 15 of his career-high (tied) 25 points in the second stanza.
The Lions pushed their lead out to seven points (56-49) on a Grant Disken basket with 17:29 to play in the second half, but a dunk from Brady Spence less than three minutes later tied the game at 60. A Spence putback with 12:35 to go increased the Bobcat lead to eight points (70-62).
SLU rallied to regain the lead 74-73 on a Kanon Koster jumper in the paint with 9:17 remaining. However, GCSU knotted the game at 77 on two Austin Sloan free throws 90 seconds later. The Bobcats extended their lead to 88-83 on a Richard Crawford III jumper with 85 seconds left.
SLU closed to within three points (88-85), but a Rigsbee jumper in the paint gave Georgia College a 90-85 lead with 46 seconds left and quelled the Lion rally.
GCSU salted the game away from the free throw line, nailing 7-of-8 attempts in the final 33 seconds.
Greene connected on four of them, while Crawford sank three.
Greene finished hitting 8-of-15 from the floor, including 6-of-12 from long distance, while Rigsbee went 10-of-13 from the field to go along with his six rebounds and three blocks. Crawford finished with 13 points and six assists, while Sloan added 11 points.
Spence finished with a double-double as he pulled down 11 rebounds to go along with his 10 points.