Dre Boyd leads bounce back road win

After a heartbreaking OT loss to Freed-Hardeman last Saturday, Georgetown knew the importance and difficulty of the next challenge: a road game at Cumberlands. The Tigers showed impressive poise and resolve as Dre Boyd led 5 Tigers in double figures en route to a 93-85 win to keep pace atop the Mid-South Conference.

Boyd went to work right away as he scored Georgetown's first 3 baskets, all in the paint. Attacking the paint proved to be a theme all night for the Tigers as they ultimately scored 56 with a +22 margin inside. After Boyd's quick start, Gavin Stevens hit a tying 3 in just his 2nd start of the season. The seesaw battle kept going in the first half until a Jabrion Spikes basket with 12:45 to play gave Georgetown a 15-13 lead. The Tigers would never trail again. Cumberlands tied the game at 22 with 8:33 to go but could never get over the top. A layup from Andres Burney kickstarted an 11-0 run, punctuated by a Tae Dozier three-pointer, and gave the Tigers a 33-22 lead in just under 2 minutes. Cumberlands crawled back within 3 late in the half at 41-38, but Dre Boyd had another answer inside as the Tigers shot 58% in the half to lead, 43-38, at the break. While the 3-point shots weren't falling, Cumberlands could not stop Georgetown inside. The Tigers made 17 of 23 shots (74%) inside the arc.

Georgetown started the 2nd half the same as the first with 2 straight baskets inside from Spikes and Boyd in the first 50 seconds. With a 48-42 lead just over 3 minutes in, Spikes stepped outside to nail a 3 and after 2 free throws from Gavin Stevens, the lead was back to 11 at 53-42. Cumberlands countered with 6 straight but a Tae Dozier layup momentarily stemmed the tide. On the next possession, the Patriots' Anthony Johnson was fouled on a 3-point attempt. He made all 3 free throws to cut Georgetown's lead to 55-51 with 14:54 to play. The Tigers used their veteran experience to come back with 7 straight, capped by another Tae Dozier three to push the lead to 11 again with 13:30 to play. From there, the teams traded baskets and free throws for much of the game. Georgetown led by as many as 14 down the stretch and until a last second three-pointer, Cumberlands never got closer than 9.

Dre Boyd finished the game 9-13 from the floor and scored a Georgetown career-best 22 points. He also grabbed 5 rebounds, and had 3 assists, 2 steals and a block. Jabrion Spikes also shot 9-13 from the floor en route to a 20-point night to go with 6 boards and 2 steals. Jaquias Franklin did not hit a three in the game but went 7-7 from the line and ended with 17 points. Tae Dozier continued show he is one of the best 2-way players in the NAIA. Despite fouling out after 30 minutes, Dozier finished with 15 points, 6 rebounds, 4 steals, 2 assists and 1 block. Andres Burney came off the bench in this one and nearly ended with a double-double (10 points, 8 rebounds). Gavin Stevens stepped into the starting lineup, scoring 5 points and picking up 3 steals. As a team, the Tigers had 14 steals that contributed to 19 points off turnovers.

The team will take Saturday off and prepare for a road trip to Campbellsville next Thursday. Tip time is set for 7:30pm.