Darius Floyd only played a little over eight minutes on Thursday night, but it was the quality of his minutes, not the quantity, that made a difference.
The freshman from Chattooga High School gave the Georgia Northwestern Bobcats a big spark off the bench at a time when they needed it the most and the Navy-and-Silver rallied from seven points down with 8:23 to play to score a 77-74 over visiting Crown Bible College (Tenn.) at the Rossville Athletic Center.
"This is a sweet win for us," Bobcats head coach David Stephenson said afterward.
"They beat us in double overtime up there (90-89) earlier this year and they've actually beat us three or four times in overtime since I've been (coaching) here. This was a quality win over a four-year school. (Crown) is always one of the most disciplined groups we play."
Both teams came out gunning - and connecting - to open the game. The Bobcats sunk four of their first five shots - three from behind the arc - only to see the Crusaders match the torrid pace.
A first half that saw four ties and nine lead changes saw Georgia Northwestern lead by six points on two occasions. The final time came on a Cameron Sherlin 3-pointer with 1:40 left before halftime and the Bobcats would go to the locker room up 42-37.
But as quickly as they built the lead, the Bobcats watched it disappear as Crown opened the second half on a 12-3 run to take a 49-45 lead with 14:36 to play. They would maintain their advantage over the next six minutes, getting two free throws from Luke Dalton with 8:22 to play to enjoy their biggest lead, 62-55.
Enter Floyd.
Following a free throw by Devin Watkins, Floyd ran the floor following a Crusader miss to score a lay-up in transition. On the ensuing inbound pass, the athletic Floyd went up high to snare the pass in mid-air, spun and fired a pass to a streaking Veshawn Bell, who completed the 3-point play to cap a quick 6-0 run in less than a minute.
The Bobcats would eventually regain the lead on a bucket by Watkins with 6:26 to play and the two teams would trade the lead four more times in the next 2:43 before Sherlin's fourth and final 3-pointer of the night gave the Bobcats the lead for good, 70-68, with 4:48 remaining.
Georgia Northwestern would stretch the lead back to six with less than 2:30 remaining, but the Crusaders would make things extremely interesting the final two minutes, trimming the deficit to 76-74 on a pair of free throws by Dalton with 20 seconds left.
Tyler Shropshire hit 1-of-2 free throws with 17 seconds left and drew a foul after Dalton missed a 3-pointer from the corner with just under five seconds left. However, Shropshire left the door open for the Crusaders when he missed both ensuing free throw attempts.
Chad Mainous, Crown's high scorer for the night with 21 points, was able to get off a final 3-point try at the buzzer, but Watkins was able to get just get enough of a fingertip on the ball to shorten its trajectory and preserve the victory.
"We got Floyd in the game for some fresh legs," Stephenson said of the second-half comeback. "He gave us some great hustle on defense and he made some drives to the basket. I thought that was big for us. That and we finally started realized we could go to the bucket instead of settling for shooting threes. Anytime we converted against their press, it gave us some energy."
Bell was a rock-solid 10-of-14 from the free throw line and finished with 24 points to go with five assists. Watkins had 13 points and six boards, followed by Sherlin with 12 points and Shropshire with 10. Dustin Stanley had nine points before fouling out in the final minute, while Garrett McAllister had seven points off the bench.
Dalton finished with 19 points for Crown, while Josh Farmer went for 13.
The Bobcats (7-13) will be back in action at the R.A.C. on Saturday when they face Oxford College at 4 p.m. It will the team's annual Food Drive Game to benefit the LaFayette Care Mission. Admission is free with a non-perishable food donation.
Blood Assurance personnel will also be on hand in the lobby with information on blood donations.
Georgia Northwestern Men 77, Crown Bible College 74
Georgia Northwestern (7-13)
Devin Watkins 13, Cameron Sherlin 12, Tyler Shropshire 10, McAllister 7, Floyd 2, Veshawn Bell 24, Stanley 9, Cardoza
Crown Bible (2-15)
Chad Mainous 21, Josh Farmer 13, Williamson 5, Boutchia 2, Luke Dalton 19, Ladd, Gillespie, Ludka 6, Nicely 3, J. Sullivan, Q. Sullivan 5, Butler
Halftime: Georgia Northwestern 42, Crown Bible 37