West GA Tech wins at buzzer
TALLAPOOSA, Ga. – The West Georgia Tech Golden Knights swept Middle Georgia Tech in conference basketball action Saturday. The women won 93-79 and the men won on a shot at the buzzer, 90-89.
West Georgia Tech men 90, Middle Georgia Tech 79
Randazerro Chaney scored a layup with less than a second on the clock on an inbounds pass from Shaun Monk to give the West Georgia Tech men an improbable 90-89 victory over Middle Georgia Tech in a crucial conference matchup Saturday night.
The win puts West Georgia Tech in at least a tie for second place in the conference with a 2-1 record (8-10 overall). The Titans fell to 11-9 and are also 2-1 in the conference.
The Golden Knights appeared to have lost the game when they missed a driving shot in the final seconds, only to get a second chance when the Titans traveled on the rebound with just a second remaining. The Knights inbounded underneath the basket, and Monk found an open Chaney for the winning shot.
West Georgia Tech was out of timeouts, so the final play was set up by the WGTC players, according to WGTC head coach Niki Okolovitch.
"Give these kids all the credit in the world. That last out of bounds play is something they got together and drew up, and it worked to perfection. We really needed this game to stay in the hunt for a top seed in our conference tournament. We haven't had any easy wins this year, and these down-to-the-wire battles have become the norm for us. These tough games will continue to pay off for us in the long run as we go through our conference schedule."
Out of 18 games for the Golden Knights this season, eight have been decided by four points or less, and five were decided on the game's final possession. West Georgia Tech is now 3-2 in final-possession ballgames.
Derrick Austin led the way for the Golden Knights with 25 points as he shot 8-of-11 from the floor and 3-of-5 from three-point range. Alyja Hennings added 17 and Victor Wynn scored 12 the round out the double-figure scoring for West Georgia Tech.
The Golden Knights will host Denmark Tech out of South Carolina on Monday at 7:30 p.m., at Oak Mountain Academy in Carrollton.