Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Ga. Tech advances to championship
NEW YORK — Josh Okogie scored a game-high 22 points to lead Georgia Tech to a 76-61 victory over Cal State Bakersfield in an NIT semifinal Tuesday night.
Ben Lammers finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds for Georgia Tech, which will take on either Texas Christian or Central Florida in the championship game Thursday night.
Quinton Stephens added 13 points, and Tadric Jackson had 12.
The Yellow Jackets led almost the entire game, due to a strong defensive effort and excellent ball management. Georgia Tech forced 15 turnovers while only committing seven. Eighteen of the Yellow Jackets’ 76 points came off Cal State Bakersfield turnovers.
Sharp shooting aided the Yellow Jackets. Georgia Tech connected on 43.3 percent of its shots (26 for 60) while limiting the Roadrunners to 35 percent shooting (21 for 60).
At halftime, the Yellow Jackets (21-15) had a 36-26 lead highlighted by Jackson’s running three-pointer at the buzzer.
Georgia Tech put away the game midway through the second half. Following Dedrick Basile’s three which sliced the lead to 40-31, Georgia Tech outscored Cal State Bakersfield 15-6 over a 4:53 span to push the advantage to 55-37.
Basile led Cal State Bakersfield (25-10) with 18 points. Jaylin Airington chipped
in with 12, and Damiyne Durham and Shon Briggs had 10 points apiece.
Okogie’s soaring two-handed dunk along the baseline with 2:38 left punctuated the rout.
For Cal State Bakersfield, the loss concluded the longest season in school history. The Roadrunners played 35 games in 2016-2017, breaking the record of 34 set in 1989-1990.
Georgia Tech improved to 14-9 all-time in the NIT, despite qualifying for the tournament’s semifinal for the first time since 1971. The Yellow Jackets join North Carolina as the only other Atlantic Coast Conference team that has a chance to win a postseason championship.