MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. – Scoring was not an issue as Clayton State (4-17, 2-12 PBC) got another career performance from redshirt-sophomore Bryan Hart (Hampton, Va.) as they outlasted Georgia College (9-12, 6-7 PBC) by a score of 103-101 in overtime in an NCAA Division II men's basketball game on Saturday, February 8.
 
Hart dropped a career-high 26 points for the second straight game, going 5-of-9 from beyond the arc, and hauled in six boards in 44 minutes while sophomore guard Arusha Hunter (Snellville, Ga.) wasn't far behind with 24 points, eight rebounds and five assists. All of the latter came in just 17 minutes of action.
 
Sophomore forward Ricardo Saams, Jr. (Miramar, Fla.) finished with 17 points and seven caroms and senior guard Kyle Kincey (Tallahassee, Fla.) added 12 points, five rebounds and four assists. Freshman guard Jordan Curtis (Bradenton, Fla.) had the best game of his young career as he came away with a personal best 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting, 3-of-4 of which came from beyond the arc.
 
The Bobcats would take the early advantage as they clawed their way to a 17-10 spread by the 13:12 mark before Clayton State responded by tying the game up at 19-19 less than three minutes later. Following a Jordan Thomas basket that gave GC back the lead Hunter flipped the script with a triple that gave the Lakers a 22-21 advantage.
 
He would then add a pair of free throws for a three point margin before Justin Cave tied it up with a three of his own at the 9:07 mark. They would deadlock again at 26-26 before Clayton State erupted for a 12-0 run in a span of 2:21 to pull back ahead 38-26 with 6:11 showing on the clock.
 
At that point the Bobcats answered with a 15-4 outburst behind six points from Thomas to cut it to 44-41 with under a minute left before a long ball from Hunter sent the Lakers to the break up by six.
 
The Bobcats would come out firing to start the second half, however, as they opened with a 13-3 run to pull ahead 54-50 by the 15:25 mark. Back-to-back triples by Hunter and Abrams then put the Lakers back up by two only to see four ties and a pair of lead changes over the next 4:55.
 
Deadlocked at 67-67 at that point, GC came away with seven straight points for a 74-67 lead with 8:40 to play before Hart answered with consecutive triples to cut it to one 46 seconds later. With 5:18 remaining in regulation it would be Hart that would put Clayton State ahead with another triple as he sparked a 9-2 burst that gave them an 85-79 advantage by the 3:08 mark.
 
Trailing 87-80 the Bobcats got off the deck as they surged back ahead 92-90 behind a 13-5 rally that saw threes from Cave and Brandon Thomas before the go ahead layup from Wesley Simpson with 36 seconds left. The Lakers were not done though as Kincey drew a foul and proceeded to sink a pair of threes to force overtime as GC's last second three-pointer went awry.
 
That extra session would see the teams trade the first two buckets before Saams, Jr. converted a traditional three-point play and Hart drove to the hoop for a 99-94 lead by the 2:46 mark. That lead would extend to 102-96 less than a minute and a half later before the Bobcats found their feet and started to battle back.
 
That would take the form of five straight points from Simpson off of a pair of free throws and a three to cut it to 102-101 with 39 seconds to play. They would force a miss at the other end but could not take advantage of it as they promptly turned it over with 12 seconds on the clock. Following a foul to extend the game, Kincey split a pair at the line and Georgia College's contested three at the other end came up short to lock up the two point victory.
 
Chris Parks posted a "big man" double-double of 17 points and 13 rebounds while Simpson just missed a triple-double with 14 points, 13 boards and seven assists to pace the Bobcats. As impressive as those performances were, they weren't the leading scorers as Jordan Thomas finished with 21 points, eight caroms and four assists and Cave had 21 points with four assists.
 
The Lakers return to action when they take on Georgia Southwestern on Wednesday, February 12. Game time is set for approximately 7:30 p.m. following the women's contest at The Loch.