COLUMBUS — Ishmael Hollis hit two free throws with 4.5 seconds left to complete a second-half comeback for North Georgia in a 77-75 win over Armstrong Atlantic State in the Peach Belt Conference men’s basketball quarterfinals on Friday at the Lumpkin Center.
The Saints (16-11) — the second seed out of the West Division — advanced to the PBC semifinals today to take on USC Aiken, the top seed out of the East.
The Pirates — seeded third out of the East Division — saw their season come to a close at 15-12 after returning to the PBC tournament for the first time in two seasons.
Armstrong built a 46-32 halftime lead behind 22 first-half points from senior Aric Miller as North Georgia hit just 34.2 percent from the floor before the break.
North Georgia opened the second half on a 13-2 run over the first five minutes as a layup by Scott Windom made the score 48-45 with 14:56 left.
The Saints took their first lead of the second half, 61-60, on a pair of free throws from Lamar Richardson with 7:38 left, but Armstrong sprinted back out to the lead with a 6-0 run over the next minute and a half.
With 3:35 left in the game, a double foul between the Pirates’ Aric Miller and the Saints’ Travis Core fouled Miller out wit 27 points and forced the Pirates to try to win without their leading scorer.
A three-point play by Antroine Williford put the Pirates up five, 75-70, with 2:16 left, but North Georgia scored the last seven points of the game to close out the win.
A layup by Windom brought the Saints to within 75-72 with 2:03 left, then Core nailed a 3-pointer — the first three of the entire game for North Georgia — with 30 seconds left to tie. Holding the ball for the last shot to try and win, Armstrong turned the ball over with 4.3 seconds left and Kyle Callanan fouled Hollis after the steal by Hollis, and the All-Conference performer for the Saints knocked down the two free throws to put North Georgia up by two.
Callanan’s 35-foot 3-point attempt to try to win the game rimmed out and North Georgia claimed the win.
“It was a tale of two halves, you could definitely say,” Armstrong coach Jeremy Luther said.
“The first half we talked about coming out with emotion, coming out with energy and we did all of those things. We felt good about things going into halftime. In the second half, they slowed things down for us and I didn’t do a good job making adjustments.”
The Pirates shot just 31.3 percent in the second half (10 of 32) while the Saints shot 48.4 percent in the second half (15-of-31).
Miller finished the contest with a game-high 27 points on 6-of-15 shooting from the floor, including 3 of 8 on 3-pointers, as well as 12 of 13 from the free-throw line. Williford finished with a double-double of 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Pirates.
“We had 10 wins last year overall and six in the league,” Luther said. “My seniors — Aric Miller, Antroine Williford and J.C. Winn — set the tone in the offseason, and we went from 10 wins to 15 wins, six wins to 11 in the league and we couldn’t have done it without them. We had great chemistry, great character this year. It just wasn’t meant to be for us today.”
North Georgia placed four players in double figures, led by Scott Windom’s double-double of 16 points and 11 rebounds. Core finished the game with 14 points, while Victor Hoder added 10 points off the bench and Hollis finished with 10.
ARMSTRONG (15-12)
Morales 1-3 3-4 5, Williford 5-12 3-4 13, Winn 3-5 3-4 9, Miller 6-15 12-13 27, Bellinger II 2-6 1-3 6, Callanan 3-11 0-0 7, Walker 2-6 0-5 4, Eversley 2-5 0-0 4. Totals 24-63 22-33 75.
NORTH GEORGIA (16-1)
Hollis 4-7 2-2 10, Windom 6-16 4-8 16, Ward 3-8 0-0 6, Richardson 3-16 3-4 9, Core 6-9 1-1 14, Tanzy 0-2 0-0 0, Norman 2-3 0-1 4, Moynihan 0-0 0-0 0, Guthrie 0-0 0-0 0, Green 2-4 2-2 6, Metzger 0-0 0-0 0, Holder 1-1 8-9 10, Lawrence 0-0 0-0 0, Goldsmith 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 28-69 20-27 77.
Halftime—Armstrong 46-32. 3-point goals—Armstrong 5-25 (Williford 0-4, Miller 3-8, Bellinger 1-4, Callanan 1-9, Eversley 0-1); NG 1-18 (Hollis 0-1, Richardson 0-12, Core 1-2, Tanzy 0-2, Goldsmith 0-1). Rebounds—Armstrong 48 (Williford 11); NG 41 (Windom 11). Assists—Armstrong 10 (Miller, Belllinger 3); NG 11 (Core 4). Total fouls—Armstrong 21, NG 26. Fouled out—Miller, Green. Technical fouls—None. A—247.