Georgia rallies, then holds off South Carolina State

RJ Godfrey and Tyrin Lawrence each scored 14 points to help lead Georgia to a 79-72 win over visiting South Carolina State on Sunday in Athens, Ga.

Asa Newell and Dakota Leffew added 12 apiece for Georgia (12-1) which rallied from a 17-point halftime deficit. Silas Demary Jr. had 11 points followed by De'Shayne Montgomery's 10, as the Bulldogs won their seventh straight game, marking their best start to a season since 1930-31 (13-0).

Reserve Jayden Johnson led South Carolina State (6-9) with 16 points, followed by Michael Teal's 13 and Wilson Dubinsky's 12. South Carolina State dropped its third game in four tries entering Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference play on Jan. 4.

Trailing 41-24 at halftime, Demary's triple and Montgomery's dunk began a 12-5 scoring run to open the second half, pulling Georgia within 10 at the 16:18 mark.

After Teal's layup extended South Carolina State's lead to 50-39, Demary's basket stamped a 7-0 Georgia run, pulling the Bulldogs within four at the 11:17 mark of the second half. Dubinsky answered with a triple on the other end, but Leffew and Demary's layups began a 14-2 Georgia run -- which was capped with Lawrence's personal 8-0 spurt.

Trailing 60-55, South Carolina State cut its deficit to one after Drayton Jones' four straight points. From there, Newell's three-point play jump started an 8-0 Georgia run, stamped with Montgomery's free throw with 3:42 left.

After Davion Everett split a pair of free throws to pull South Carolina State within four with 1:44 left, Georgia made seven of its eight free-throw attempts to ice the victory.

Georgia connected on just one field goal early in the game until Dylan James' layup trimmed its deficit to 7-5 at the 14:44 mark.

After Johnson's basket put South Carolina State ahead 13-10, Leffew's 3-pointer followed by Montgomery's free throw gave Georgia its first lead with 10:27 left in the opening half.

Godfrey's pair of free throws flipped the lead to Georgia with 5:30 remaining, before Dubinsky's triple gave South Carolina State a 24-22 advantage on the ensuing possession. Georgia was held scoreless until Somto Cyril's free throws snapped a 14-0 South Carolina State run with 50 seconds left.

Johnson then capped the first half with consecutive 3-pointers, giving South Carolina State a 41-24 halftime lead.

--Field Level Media