George scores 14 of his 18 points in second half to help Georgia Tech hold off UMBC 91-82
ATLANTA (AP) — Naithan George scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half and added eight assists to help Georgia Tech beat UMBC 91-82 Wednesday night to snap a three-game losing streak.
Baye Ndongo scored 17 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Lance Terry and freshman Jaeden Mustaf, making his first start, added 15 points each for the Yellow Jackets (5-6).
Bryce Johnson scored 14 of his 21 points in the second half when the Retrievers (7-6) made a run at the Tech to cut a 22-point lead down to six. Louie Jordan hit five 3-pointers and scored 17 points and Ace Valentine added 16 points.
Both teams shot 52%. The Yellow Jackets made 8 of 16 3-point attempts while UMBC was 10 of 25. Tech made 19 of 29 free throws to UMBC's 12-of-19. The Yellow Jackets were plus-16 on the boards and outscored UMBC by nine off turnovers.
UMBC trailed by 22 with 15 minutes left but were within six after a Johnson 3-pointer with three minutes left. George found Ndongo for a dunk and Luke O'Brien hit a 3 to rebuild an 11-point edge. UMBC got it back to nine but two George free throws followed by a turnover that led to a Mustaf fast-break dunk made it 86-73 with 51 seconds remaining and Tech sealed it with free throws.
Trailing 11-2, Ndongo and Terry combined for 17 points in a 19-0 run for Tech, which led 53-34 after shooting 62% in the first half.
This was the first game of a five-game homestand for the Yellow Jackets, who play Duke in an ACC game on Saturday. UMBC plays at Marist on Saturday.
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