MONTEAVALLO, Ala.- The Georgia Southwestern Hurricanes played their second game of a back to back against Palm Beach Atlantic on Saturday afternoon at the BankTrust Arena on the campus of the University of Montevallo. After a nail-biter the night before against North Alabama, the Blue & Gold would go two for two on the trip with a 74-65 victory over the Sailfish.
Colin Slotter was a bright spot in a spotty offensive performance by the Hurricanes. The sophomore from Marietta had 24 points on 8-12 shooting from the field and was also 8-10 from the free throw line. He was supported by Phillip Brown who tallied 16 points, nine rebounds and four blocks.
GSW struggled to find prolonged consistency on both ends of the floor. They shot 53.3% from the field, 61.2% (26-42) from the charity stripe and forced 19 turnovers. The Canes also had 14 turnovers to only 13 assists. Yet Coach Leeder and company could never completely put the game out of reach despite holding PBA to 41.4% shooting and taking 42 foul shots of their own. The Sailfish had 15 offensive rebounds and out-rebounded the Hurricanes 38-32.
It was a mediocre opening ten minutes for the Hurricanes who opened the game on a 12-9 run, but were outrebounded 11-4 by the Sailfish. The rest of the first half would end with GSW playing inconsistent on offense and defense on the way to a 32-26 halftime lead. Georgia Southwestern had more turnovers (6) than assists (4), and they were also outrebounded by eight rebounds thanks to ten offensive rebounds by the Sailfish.
Those numbers overshadowed the positives the Hurricanes were able to get done in the first half, which included holding Palm Beach Atlantic to 33.3% shooting and forcing ten turnovers in the first half.
GSW was led by Colin Slotter who had 14 of GSW's 32 points to go along with his two rebounds, two steals and two assists. He was supported by Phillip Brown who recorded eight points, four rebounds and three blocks in the first half.
The up-and-down play continued for GSW to open the second half. GSW was able to push their six-point halftime lead to 13 points thanks to improved foul shooting (87.5%) to open the second half. That 13 point lead would bump up to 18 points before Coach Mike Leeder would empty his bench in the last two minutes, which ended with PBA cutting the 18 point lead in half.
GSW is back in action on Tuesday when they host the University of West Florida Argonauts. It will be the Blue & Gold's third game in five days and an in-season rematch. The Hurricanes won in Pensacola on November 19th by a score of 64-62. Tuesday's tip-off is slated for 7:30 pm in the Storm Dome.