ALBANY —
The Georgia Southwestern men's basketball team gave Division I Auburn University all it could handle in an exhibition game at Auburn Arena on Monday night, eventually falling to the Southeastern Conference foe, 66-50.
The Hurricanes were the aggressors out of the gate as Derrick Dawkins knocked down a 3-point basket and Milos Kleut followed with a layup to give GSW the first five points of the game. Southwestern eventually opened its largest lead of the night, 14-6, with 11:22 remaining before the halftime break.
The host Tigers chipped away at the deficit and grabbed their first lead with 4:21 left in the half, 26-24.
Matt Shaw closed out the scoring in the opening stanza and pulled the 'Canes within three points, 32-29, at the break.
A pair of Michael Tankersley dunks kept GSW within a point over the opening two minutes of the second half, but that's as close as Hurricanes would get to regaining the lead.
After Auburn had extended its advantage to seven points on three occasions, Jamon Hawkins hit a 3-pointer and Tyler Gunnett knocked down a free throw to bring the Hurricanes within three points with 11:42 to play.
Auburn answered with a 12-0 run that proved to be the difference.
The Hurricanes shot 40.9 percent from the floor, but struggled at the charity stripe (12 of 25) and from beyond the arc (2 of 11).
Tankersley and Shaw led the Hurricanes with 10 points apiece and Shaw added a team-high five rebounds.
GSW received priase from Auburn head coach Tony Barbee.
They were working at about a thousand miles an hour and we were about 200," Barbee said. "They were tough to guard off the bounce, especially Dawkins.
"He (Dawkins) was new to their team this year. We knew coming into this game that he is a guy they will depend on. He is a little joker. He is good with the ball. He could score."
Auburn shot 50 pecent from the floor over the final 20 minutes to finish at 42.9 percent for the game. The Tigers connected on 7 of 16 from 3-point range (43.8 percent) and made 11 of 17 at the foul line (64.7 percent).
Asauhn Dixon-Tatum led the Tigers with 11 points. Noel Johnson added 10. Johnson finished with a double-double after pulling down a game-high 10 rebounds.
GSW opens the regular season on Friday at home against Fort Valley State. Tip is set for 7:30 p.m.
Local Sports
Related Photos
-
Members of the GSW basketball team pause for the National Anthem before their game against Auburn on Monday. Submitted Photo
Hurricanes go punch-for-punch with SEC’s Auburn University
- Local Sports
-
-
Lady Jets’ Portia McCray signs with Lander University
South Georgia Technical College Lady Jets sophomore guard Portia McCrary has signed a letter of intent to play basketball with Lander University, a small public university located in Greenwood, South Carolina, for the 2013–2014 season. Lander University plays in the Peach Belt Conference.
-
Leonard Pope Kids Day provides fun, laughter
On Saturday, June 15 children from across Sumter County descended on the Sumter County Fairgrounds to participate in the 7th Annual Leonard Pope Kid’s Day. Just as he does every year, Pope hosts the event as a way to get kids active by providing fun activities and entertainment for the children at no cost.
-
Marion County standout kicker A.J. Wells commits to Appalachian State
A long recruiting process came to an end on Tuesday for Marion County senior place kicker and punter A.J. Wells. After completing a recent visit to Appalachian State University in Boone, NC. Wells had seen all he needed to see to make his college choice. Following his senior year at Marion County this season, Wells will don the black and gold as Mountaineer on the Appalachian State football team.
-
SGTC Lady Jets sign Kadejah Saunders
South Georgia Technical College Lady Jets head basketball coach James Frey signed Kadejah Saunders from Tarpon Springs, Florida to be a member of the South Georgia Technical College Lady Jets 2013–2014 basketball team.
-
Dwight Harris Boys Club promotes active summer time lifestyle
Four years ago, Dwight Harris noticed that many of the area’s local youth were cruising the streets and finding their way into trouble during the summer months between school years. Rather than looking the other way, Harris decided to make a difference by creating a summer time activity for local boys of all ages and races to participate in. In the summer of 2009 he began the Dwight Harris Boys Club of Americus, Inc. as a youth development program to give children a fun activity to keep them off the streets and bridge the local racial gap.
-
GSW's Gahman named PING All-Region
Georgia Southwestern men's golfer Nate Gahman was named to the NCAA Division II PING All-Region Southeast Team on Friday afternoon by the Golf Coaches Association of America.
-
Lady ‘Cane Mollie McGowan earns Academic All-District Cross Country honors
Mollie McGowan, a senior on the Georgia Southwestern women's cross country team, has been named to the 2012-13 Capital One Academic All-District III Women's Track & Field/Cross Country Team.
-
Local runners dominate ‘Loop the Lake’ 5k at Georgia Veterans Park
On Saturday runners from several southern states converged on Georgia Veterans Memorial State Park in Cordele for a run to benefit the GraceWay Recovery Residence in Albany, Georgia. GraceWay is a non-profit, faith-based, long-term substance abuse/addiction treatment community for women, and the ‘Loop the Lake’ run around Lake Blackshear was organized to raise funds for this great cause.
-
Star Racing brings home a win from Englishtown
Sovereign-Star Racing’s Michael Ray claimed his second career victory in his first final round appearance of 2013 at the Toyota NHRA Summernationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown, N.J., this past weekend.
-
Hughes highlights postseason awards with All-State selection
Dillon Hughes made sure that he put an exclamation point on the end of a stellar baseball career at Southland Academy during his senior season. Hughes was recently selected to the 2013 GISA Class AAA All-State Team following a monster year, capping off postseason honors that included three All-Region 3-AAA selections and two Region 3-AAA Honorable Mention selections.
- More Local Sports Headlines
-
