Bulldogs hold off late rally by RedHawks
By Catherine E. Toth
Advertiser Staff Writer
Could they do it again?
The night after Miami (Ohio) upset No. 10 Boston College, the RedHawks nearly ousted Georgia to advance to the championship game in the Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic last night.
But a last-ditch attempt late in the second half wasn't enough to beat the Bulldogs, who held on to win, 64-59, in the semifinal match-up at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Georgia (11-1) will face Hawai'i (8-2) in tonight's championship game at 7:30 p.m. Miami (3-6) will play Iona (3-7) in the third-place game at 5 p.m.
"That's what you come to Hawai'i for, to play (in the championship game)," said Georgia guard Ezra Williams, who posted a game-high 17 points, hitting 5-of-9 from beyond the arc. "You can't come over here to have fun."
Though the RedHawks were quick to score, sinking the first two baskets of the game, the Bulldogs went on a 9-0 run as soon as forward Chris Daniels scored the team's first bucket on a put-back about three minutes into the game.
Missed shots plagued the RedHawks in the first half; as a team they shot 28 percent from the field, compared to the Bulldogs' 41 percent. Georgia's man-to-man coverage gave Miami trouble, forcing it to take off-balanced shots.
Miami forward Alex Shorts, who led the RedHawks with 21 points against Boston College, was held to eight points in the first half, shooting just 30 percent from the field.
"I thought our man-to-man defense for 30 minutes was outstanding," said Georgia head coach Jim Harrick.
The Bulldogs entered the locker room at halftime with a comfortable 30-19 lead.
But the RedHawks weren't about to admit defeat.
Though Georgia led by as many as 21 points with 14 minutes left, Miami went on an 8-0 run that included two 3-pointers by guard Juby Johnson, to bring the RedHawks within 13 (47-34) with 11:23 left.
Johnson scored all of his team-high 14 points in the second half.
"You gotta know they're going to make a run," Williams said. "They didn't make a run all game. We just had to withstand it."
Switching from man coverage to zone defense, the Bulldogs watched their lead quickly dwindle.
"We decided to go zone and look at it," Harrick said. "We scouted them and I thought we could zone them. Well, I'll be darned. They scored a couple of 3s and they really woke up."
Miami's offense ignited, with three players scoring all their points in the second half. (Forward Eugene Seals scored all of his seven points in just six minutes of play.) They improved their field goal percentage to 44.8 percent. Out-rebounded in the first half, 23-13, Miami came back to overpower the Bulldogs on the glass, finishing with 32 total boards compared to Georgia's 29.
"We just needed a better start," said Miami head coach Charlie Coles. "I think our finish was as good as it can be tonight."
Miami frantically tried to catch up in the last 10 minutes, taking advantage of the loss of Daniels, Georgia's third-leading scorer, who fouled out with 3:50 left. The RedHawks got as close as three points with 25 seconds left. But Georgia guard Rashad Wright made two free throws (though he missed his last two) to seal the victory.
"They tempo-ed the ball so much, took so much time off the clock, it was almost impossible for them to get back in," Harrick said.
This was Georgia's sixth consecutive win after losing to Georgia State on Dec. 4. On its longest road trip this season — Hawai'i is the third different time zone the Bulldogs have played in in almost a week — they have found a way to combat jet lag and jell as a team.
"We're getting our chemistry back," Williams said.
In only its second appearance at the Rainbow Classic, Georgia finds itself, once again, in the championship game. The Bulldogs won the tournament in 1996, defeating Maryland, 73-65.
"That's why we're here," Harrick said. "We came here to play in the championship game."
