Nov. 22, 2001
LAS VEGAS (AP) – Marvin Lewis scored a game-high 21 points to fight off a late Eastern Illinois comeback and lead Georgia Tech to a 70-65 win in the second round of the Las Vegas tourney Thursday.
Lewis scored 17 second-half points including two free throws with seven seconds left in the game.
Tony Akins added 14 points for Georgia Tech (2-1).
Henry Domercant led the Panthers (1-2) with 18 points, including a 10-for-10 free throwing shooting performance.
After trailing for most of the game, Georgia Tech took the lead for good on a Halston Lane 3-pointer with 12:39 left in the game.
Georgia Tech later built a 57-46 lead. Down the stretch, the Panthers cut that lead to 66-65 on a J.R. Reynolds four-point play with eight seconds to play.
After Lewis hit his two free throws with seven seconds left Eastern Illinois turned the ball over with four seconds remaining. Akins then hit two free throws with three seconds remaining to seal it.
With the exception of two early one-point deficits, Eastern Illinois led for nearly all of the first half. Eastern Illinois built its biggest lead of the game of 23-14 with 4:43 to play until half time. Georgia Tech cut that lead to 26-22 at intermission.
