Bobcats falter late in loss at Welch

The Georgia Northwestern Bobcats led by two points with 5:45 left to play on Saturday, but couldn’t hold on to the lead as they fell to Welch College, 84-72, in Nashville, Tenn.

Georgia Northwestern (0-2) trailed 37-35 after a back-and-forth first half. Darrius Fugh heated up early for the Bobcats as he scored 24 first-half points. Those 24 points were one off the school record for points in a half.

The lead continued to change hands in the second half. Welch took a 62-54 lead with eight minutes to play, behind the hot hand of senior Carson Outlaw, who went 8 of 11 from the floor in the second half.

But a full-court press began to play dividends for the Bobcats. They converted Welch turnovers into points as Patrick Simmons hit a pair of 3-pointers and Fugh connected on a 3-point play to complete a 12-2 run and forge a 66-64 lead.

Welch would tie things up at 72 with 2:20 to go and the wheels suddenly fell off for the Bobcats, who gave up a 12-0 run to end the game.

Outlaw had 29 points on the day, while Chris Simon scored all of his 14 points in the second half.

Fugh was limited to five second-half points, but matched Outlaw with 29 points. He also had seven rebounds and four steals.

Simmons was 4 of 7 from behind the arc and finished with 12 points. Andrew Johnson and Darius Floyd chipped in with nine points each.

The Bobcats will travel to back to the Volunteer State on Thursday to take on The Crown College.