COURTESY WEST GEORGIA SPORTS
INFORMATION
Winter Park, FL
- In the first game back after an 11-day hiatus, the UWG men's
basketball team used an enormous second-half offensive explosion to
move into the Championship game of the 37th Annual Tangerine
Tournament with a 67-57 victory over California (Pa.)
Freshman guard Taylor Cochran put up a massive effort
coming off the bench in this one, hitting 4-of-5 from three-point
range en route to a 14-point outburst in 21 minutes of action. He
was a catalyst in the Wolves' 20-0 run that erased a 10-point
Vulcan lead late in the second half.
The game started as a defensive struggle, as the two teams took
their time early, shaking off the cobwebs after a long holiday
break. California (Pa.) jumped out to a 7-4 lead in the first four
minutes of the contest and kept the lead until the 12:42 mark, when
UWG senior Gavin Field had an old-fashioned three-point
play to put the Wolves ahead at 12-11.
Over the next nine minutes, the two teams woke up offensively, but
especially the Vulcans, as California outscored West Georgia 24-11
to take a commanding 35-23 advantage with just under four minutes
left in the first half. The Wolves' defense took over for the
remainder of the first half as the Wolves scored eight straight
points over the final 3:19 of the period to go into the locker
room at halftime trailing 35-31.
In the second half, West Georgia nearly caught up with California,
pulling to within one point at 40-39 with 16:27 left. But the
offense went cold again, as the Vulcans went on a 12-3 run that
lasted until just under eight minutes left in the game. At that
point, the Wolves trailed 52-42.
Beginning at the 7:44, Cochran scored five straight points for the
Wolves in a span of less than 30 seconds and West Georgia was
rolling. Another Cochran three-pointer at the 6:08 point turned out
to be the game-winning shot, as UWG led 54-52 at that point and the
game would get no closer.
When the dust cleared at the end of the contest, the Wolves had
finished the game with a 25-5 run in the final 7:44 of the contest
and had also picked up their 12th victory of the 2011-12 season.
With the win, West Georgia moves to 12-1 and the Vulcans fall to
6-5 in the loss.
Cochran and senior forward Da'Ron Sims were tied for the
West Georgia scoring lead in the contest with 14 points apiece.
Field added 13 for the cause. Junior forward Lavon Gray
led the defensive effort with six steals in the contest.
The Wolves now await the winner of tonight's contest between
Rollins and Lake Erie to see which they will face in tomorrow's
championship game.
