Nov. 1, 2013
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THE FLATS – Sophomore Robert Carter, Jr., led four Yellow Jackets in double figures as Georgia Tech rolled to a 90-53 victory over Young Harris College in an exhibition game at McCamish Pavilion Friday night.
Carter poured in 13 on 5-of-6 shooting and had six rebounds, while senior Daniel Miller added 12 points (6-of-7 shooting) with eight rebounds and three steals. Tennessee transfer, senior Trae Golden scored 12 and junior Stacey Poole, Jr., chipped in 10.
“I liked the competitiveness of tonight’s game,” said Tech head coach Brian Gregory. “Their (Young Harris’) ability to pressure and their ability to get into the basketball and deny some passes and throw us out of rhythm – I thought they did a good job of that and we had 15 first-half turnovers. But I thought we got a lot of good things out of tonight. We did a much better job in the second half on the defensive glass.”
Freshman Quinton Stephens was impressive in his debut, scoring nine points and swiping a game-high 16 rebounds, with three blocks and two assists in 19 minutes. Fellow freshman Travis Jorgenson dished out a game-high seven assists.
“I thought Quinton did some things well,” said Gregory. “I know he missed some shots tonight that he’s capable of making and will make in his career, but he had 16 rebounds. He’s not the most physically-strong guy in the world, but he’s got a knack.”
Young Harris, which competes in the Division II Peach Belt Conference, scored the game’s first basket on a layup from Herdie Lawrence and Isiah Johnson nailed a three to pull the Mountain Lions within 8-7 at the 15:55 mark, but it was all Jackets after that.
Tech embarked on a 33-7 run following Johnson’s three. Sophomore Marcus Georges-Hunt, who finished with nine points and four boards in 15 minutes of action, converted a three-point play to help trigger the run and then threw down a fast-break dunk from sophomore Solomon Poole that made it 32-13 at 8:36.
The Jackets led 52-26 at the half, and expanded the margin to as many as 46 points (74-28) midway through the second half.
Tony Raymond scored 12 points to pace the Mountain Lions.
Young Harris is coached by former Navy head coach Pete Herrmann, who was Gregory’s head coach during his playing days as a Midshipman. Herrmann spent five seasons at Navy (1986-92) and was a longtime assistant at Georgia before taking the Young Harris job in 2010.
“My relationship with Brian goes back a long time,” said Herrmann after the game. “He’s putting together a very, very solid team. They have a good balance of bigs and guards and they play very strong.”
Tech opens the season next Friday night versus Presbyterian at McCamish Pavilion at 7:30 p.m.
