MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. -- Georgia College's Nate Hamilton drained two free throws with 7.5 seconds left Thursday night to seal a 73-69 upset over No. 7 Augusta State in Centennial Center.
ASU senior forward Franck Ndongo paced the Jaguars with 19 points and nine rebounds, while George Johnson and O'Neal Armstrong turned in 15 points each. Armstrong registered seven assists and two steals and Johnson snagged three steals. Senior forward Howard Brown logged eight points and eight rebounds off the bench.
GC's Reece Wiedeman led all scorers with 25 points. Jared Holmes booked 15, Hamilton netted 13 -- all from the charity stripe -- and Ryan Aquino chipped in 10 points and seven boards.
With the loss, ASU slipped to 21-3 and 11-3 in the league, while the Bobcats moved to 12-8 overall and 6-6 in the conference and denied Jags' head coach Dip Metress his 300th career win.
In a contest that featured nine lead changes, ASU took a 46-40 lead in the second half on back-to-back 4-point plays from Johnson and Caleb Brown at the 14:44 mark. After a Bobcat basket, Brown scored on a layup and Johnson drilled a trey from the left wing for a 51-42 ASU lead – the Jags' biggest of the game -- with 12:53 remaining.
GC would answer, holding ASU without a field goal for a stretch of 4:17. The Bobcats reclaimed the lead on Holmes' driving basket in the lane at the 4:30 mark Tye Beal answered with a layup after an Armstrong steal. Wideman put the Bobcats back in front on his layup with 3:31 to play.
Ndongo's 12-footer pulled the Jags within 68-67 with 1:38 left, and after Wiedeman made 1-of-2 free throws, Ryan Aquino hit a pair of free throws to put the Bobcats up 71-67 with 24 ticks left. Armstrong hit 2-of-3 free throws to cut the Jags' deficit to 71-69 with :13 left.
Forced to foul, ASU sent Hamilton to the line, where he iced the game for the Bobcats.
ASU hits the road for Montevallo, Ala., on Saturday, Feb. 12 for a 4:30 p.m., (EST) Peach Belt Conference matchup with the Falcons.
A live webcast, as well as live stats, of Saturday's doubleheader are available at http://um.nmtvsports.com and http://www.montevallofalcons.com/livestats/landing, respectively.
