Final - 2OT
No. 24 Florida gets past Georgia in 2OT
Jan 26, 2011 - 8:46 AM Athens, GA (Sports Network) - Erving Walker hit a long-distance three-pointer with time running out to force a second overtime, and No. 24 Florida cruised from there to defeat a relentless Georgia team, 104-91, at Stegeman Coliseum.Walker finished with 24 points and five assists, while Vernon Macklin posted 23 points and grabbed nine rebounds for the Gators (16-4, 5-1 SEC), who are rolling with three straight wins and eight victories in their last nine contests.
Kenny Boynton netted 24 points while Chandler Parsons had 18 points and 12 boards in the victory.
Travis Leslie collected 21 points and eight rebounds for the Bulldogs (14-5, 3-3), who have dropped two of their last three. Trey Thompkins added 20 points and 13 rebounds, while Jeremy Price chipped in 16 points and seven rebounds in the loss.
Florida's missed free throws during the final minute of regulation allowed the Bulldogs to force the first overtime.
From the free throw line, Walker clanked the back of the iron with 35 seconds left, which resulted in a Gerald Robinson three-pointer to make it a 72-71 game. Walker then made 1-of-2 from the line on Florida's next possession to keep it a two-point margin.
Georgia continued to capitalized on the Gators' missed shots from the charity stripe and was able to tie the game on the final possession of regulation.
Dustin Ware threw up a desperation shot with time running out that fell short, but Thompkins was there to clean up the mess with a tip in to tie the game at 73 with less than a second to play.
Georgia opened the first extra period with a Price dunk and Parson answered back with a triple to take a 76-75 lead.
The teams kept trading buckets until Price hit two free throws with six ticks left to make it 85-82.
But Walker played the hero when he heaved a desperation shot about eight feet beyond the three-point arc and it hit all net to force the second OT.
The Gators pulled away after that by scoring the next nine points, capped by Parsons' layup to make it 94-85, and they never looked back.
"They played their tails off," Georgia head coach Mark Fox said of the Gators, "and our kids did too. We just came up short. We were fatigued. Florida took the lead and we didn't have one more response in us."
Boynton scored the first seven points of the game for the Gators and Walker converted a steal into a layup for a 9-2 lead early on.
The home team took its first lead as part of a 10-2 run finished by Chris Barnes' layup with 12 minutes left to play in the opening half.
Tied at 22 a few minutes later, Tompkins went off for a three-point play and nailed a trey to start an 8-0 run. Florida, though, cut it to a two-point deficit, 35-33, on Boynton's jumper with 3:22 left in the half, while Georgia hung onto a 41-39 edge at the break.
The game went back-and-forth in the first three minutes of the second half when the teams tied twice. Florida hit back-to-back threes from Erik Murphy and Parsons to take a 53-47 lead with 15:30 left to play and Florida held onto a less-than-comfortable lead the next 10 minutes.
Ware's three-pointer with 6:18 left pulled the Bulldogs within four. Florida followed up with an offensive foul and Thompkins made a free throw to make it 65-62 with 5:42 remaining.
On the Gators' next touch, Walker hit a three-pointer and his layup made it a 72-64 game with 3:08 remaining. Georgia scored the next four points before Walker missed the free throw which allowed the Bulldogs to tie the game in the waning moments of the second half.
Game Notes
The Gators hold a 104-96 series advantage, which includes wins in 13 of the last 15 meetings...Florida is a perfect 5-0 in true road tilts this season...The Gators hit 56.3 percent of their shots in overtime and finished with a 46.1-percent performance for the game...Ware had 10 points in the loss...Georgia had 20 turnovers which yielded 25 Florida points.
- FLORIDA: 104
GEORGIA: 91
Final - 2OT
Jan 25 9:36 PM - FLORIDA: 85
GEORGIA: 85
End of OT
Jan 25 9:21 PM - FLORIDA: 73
GEORGIA: 73
End of Regulation
Jan 25 9:01 PM - 180
roots - 70
roots - 56
roots - 45
roots - 42
roots - FLORIDA: 39
GEORGIA: 41
Halftime
Jan 25 7:51 PM - FLORIDA: 0
GEORGIA: 0
1st Half - 20:00
Jan 25 7:04 PM
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