AMERICUS, Ga. -- In overtime with 4.4 seconds left on the clock, Georgia Soutwestern men's basketball player Devin Watson recieved an inbounce pass and drained a three as time ticked off the clock to beat North Georgia 81-78 on Homecoming night inside the Storm Dome.
Watson scored 11 of 16 overtime points to push GSW to their sixth win of the season as he finished his career at GSW with 23 points and five steals, draining five from deep.
How It Happened: With 47 seconds left in the game, Andre Statam and Watson connected on a pair of threes to tie the game at 65, pushing their final game of the season into overtime against UNG.
In a low scoring first half, GSW took the lead five minutes in with a Quenten Taylor layup to make the score 6-5. With 5:21 remaining the first half, UNG was down by one possession, 23-22, but a three by R.J. Sessions started a 12-7 run into halftime as GSW led 35-29.
Coming out in the second half, both teams were exchanging shots but GSW refused to let UNG get the better half of them. Successful free-throws by Grant Howard gave the Hurricanes a nine-point lead, 46-37, with 15 minutes remaining in the game but that didn't shake UNG. Four minutes later, they took a 50-49 lead after UNG's Ephraim Tshimanga made a layup.
Free throws by Howard tied and gave GSW the lead with 10 minutes remaining in the game but UNG took the lead on the following possession and held on to it until a layup by Watson with 3:32 left in the game gave the Hurricanes a 59-58 lead before UNG took a timeout. UNG led by as much as five points with two minutes remaining in the game but GSW rallied back for the win.
GSW shot 71.4 percent from the line (15-21) and forced 21 turnovers as half of them were steals.
Who Stood Out: Howard finished with 12 points and three assists followed by Statum and Sessions, who both put up 11 points. Statam had six rebounds and two blocks while Sessions had a team-high seven rebounds and two steals.
Nighthawk's Zezmon Steeple led with 19 points and five rebounds on the night.
Watson has scored a season-high 23 points in back-to-back games this year as both resulted in GSW wins.