MELBOURNE, Fla. - The Georgia Southwestern men's basketball team shot a sizzling 61.4 percent on Saturday afternoon to hold off Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras, 79-75, in the consolation game of the Florida Tech Thanksgiving Tournament at the Clemente Center. Adam Thoseby led the Hurricanes with 20 points and was named to the all-tournament team.

The Hurricanes improved their record to 3-2 overall while Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras fell to 1-3.

The Gallitos led momentarily in the opening two minutes of the game before relinquishing the lead for good when Thoseby made a layup with 17:21 remaining in the first half to put the Hurricanes ahead, 4-3.

GSW utilized a 20-5 run midway through the period, sparked by 7 of 9 shooting, to open up a 28-13 advantage with 4:12 left before the break.

The Hurricanes opened an 18-point advantage, their largest lead of the game, at 35-17, with 28 seconds left in the first half after Karon Wright scored on back-to-back possessions. GSW led 35-19 at halftime.

Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras opened the second half on a 13-2 run to quickly pull within five points, 37-32, with 14:55 to play. GSW pushed its lead back to 13 behind back-to-back 3-pointers from Damien Leonard and Jure Gunjina.

The Gallitos chipped away at the deficit and climbed to within a basket, 55-53, with 6:11 remaining. GSW once again withstood the comeback. This time the Hurricanes made six consecutive free throws and added 3-pointer by Brandon Price to take a seven-point lead, 64-57, into the final 4:20.

Omar De Jesus knocked down a pair of free throws with 43 seconds left to get Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras within four, 74-70, but Wright scored on the ensuing GSW possession to push the lead back to six and after a stop on the other end, Gunjina made one of two free throws to stretch the lead to seven.

Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras had one final flurry left as the Gallitos made a layup with 10 seconds left, stole the ball and De Jesus drained a 3-pointer to cut the Hurricanes lead to two, 77-75, with six seconds on the clock.

Thoseby calmly sank a pair of free throws to secure the victory.

The Hurricanes controlled the glass on Saturday, outrebounding the Gallitos, 37-21, and dished out six more assists (18-12). It was GSW's season-high 28 turnovers that helped Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras keep the game close. 

Thoseby connected on 6 of 8 shots and 8 of 9 attempts from the free throw line to post his first 20-point night of the season. Gunjina scored 16 points and tied Thoseby for the team lead with seven boards. Wright made 6 of 7 shots coming off the bench to finish with 16 points after leading Southwestern with 11 in the first half. Leonard added 11.

De Jesus knocked scored a game-high 22 points to lead Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras. The remaining four starters combined for 23 points. Carmelo Betancourt came off the bench to score 15 points and dish out six assists. Josue Erazo chipped in 11 points.

The Hurricanes return to Americus to host Tuskegee on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.