With the scope of the rivalry between Middle Georgia
Technical College and West Georgia Technical College in men’s basketball, it
mattered not Saturday that the Titans were the No. 1 seed and host for the 2012-13
GCAA Division III tournament and the Golden Knights were No. 4 and had to play
an extra game Friday.
With 25 points from Randezerro Chaney, West Georgia Tech
upended the Middle Georgia Tech dream of a conference title in its new gym in a
start-to-finish semifinal slugfest 93-89.
Dublin’s D’Meco Rozier, the conference’s Player of the Year,
made five 3-pointers and all four of his free throws for a team-high 23 points.
Dwayne Bryant, the 6-7 center from Brunswick, was 9-for-13 from the floor in
scoring 21 points and led all players in rebounds with 10.
Two more of Bobby Brown’s starters had double figures,
Darrell Anthony notching 16 points as a forward and Richard Yancey 12 as a
guard. Both had four assists.
Some of the team numbers were close – WGTC’s shooting
percentage overall just one percent better – but in rebounds the Golden Knights
had a plus-14 advantage. Also, the Titan free-throw percentage aside from
Rozier was just above .500 (11-for-21).
Middle Georgia Tech has won a conference tournament title
against West Georgia Tech in the program history. The two teams split the
regular-season series in the 2012-13 campaign, and for the season there was
only a two-game difference between first and fourth place (MGTC 6-2 and WGTC
4-4 with Oxford and Southern Crescent each 5-3).
As the No. 4 seed, West Georgia Tech had to play Friday
against No. 5 Georgia Northwestern Tech. That turned out to be a 40-point rout.
Rozier and Anthony accounted for the first five Titans
points Saturday, but it was the Golden Knights making the first significant
run, eight in a row, to lead 12-5 at 15:30 of the first half. Middle Georgia
Tech had four turnovers, and Chaney completed the run with a jumper over
Bryant’s reach.
Bryant’s and Anthony’s scoring inside kept the Titans in the
game, and Jonathan Morine, starting at guard, took his first attempt from
3-point land. It went in, bringing the Titans within three (18-15).
On 3s from Yancey and Rozier, the game entered
back-and-forth mode. Big Derrick Weeks came off the Golden Knight bench and put
in two straight field goals, one that nearly tore the rim off the backboard.
Brown can also rely on substitutes to contribute right away, and that’s what
Marcus Walker did cashing in a lob assist from Bryant.
West Georgia Tech began to dominate time of possession and
sunk consecutive 3-pointers in an 8-0 run (30-25 lead). At 3:17 until halftime,
Walker hit a trey. That was followed by Rozier’s 3. West Georgia Tech
maintained a two-point edge, but that was gone when Titan reserve Devonte Smith
ran the floor off a defensive stop and tied the game 38-38 at the break.
With all of the offense in the second half (106 points), the
lead only changed hands four times in 20 minutes. The Titans opened play with
two turnovers, but stayed tied thanks to Anthony’s assist to Bryant. Yancey
also notched a tied score on points off his own steal.
Rozier broke a 42-42 tie on a 3-pointer, and Middle Georgia
Tech carried the advantage over a long stretch. It was 52-47 Titans thanks to
Rozier’s long-range accuracy, and Anthony had four points in the half’s frantic
first five minutes. Rozier had eight total as well.
The lead was as big as seven, 58-51, when the Golden Knights
went on a 6-0 run in less than two minutes. The visitors cashed in a turnover,
which helped them take over the lead, 61-60, at the 11:40 mark. One of those
few lead changes followed as Bryant’s put-back had the hosts up 62-61.
Reserve forward Kevin Simmons scored three the old fashioned
way off a turnover, and at 65-61 the Titans had the largest advantage it would
own the rest of the game. The Golden Knights went on an 8-0 run capped by
Ladamian Walker’s three-point play.
But even up 69-65, West Georgia Tech eventually found
themselves even with the Titans one more time. Bryant did everything to see to
that with six points, two offensive rebounds, a block and a steal. He tied the
game 73-73 with six minutes left.
The Golden Knights had the next four before letting Bryant
shoot away from the top of the key. The center connected (77-75). Anthony also
made two in a row, but WGTC forward John Perry matched him with two straight
field goals inside.
At 2:22, Chaney scored off a turnover for 85-79. Yancey hit
from 3 20 seconds later, but the No. 4 seed responded in just 10 seconds
(87-82). Though the Titans forced four turnovers over a 40-second span, they
gave it away twice. They were down as much as seven, Yancey making it four on a
3-ball with nine seconds left.
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