ATHENS, Ga. — Jabri Abdur-Rahim scored 23 points, RJ Melendez added 18, and Georgia extended its winning streak to six games, defeating Mount St. Mary's 94-82 on Wednesday.
Noah Thomasson scored 17 points and Blue Cain scored 10 for the Bulldogs. Georgia shot 51.7% overall and made 27 of 33 free throws. Abdur-Rahim was perfect in 10 free throw attempts and Melendez made all seven of his tries.
Georgia led by 11 points at halftime, but couldn't break away in the second half. The Mountaineers made 10 of their first 16 shots in the first 10 minutes of the half, then got within eight on a layup by Jedy Cordilia with 8 1/2 minutes remaining.
The teams traded two points for two points several times until a Justin Hill free throw and a 3-pointer by Cain gave the Bulldogs a 12-point lead with five minutes remaining.
A minute and a half later, Dakota Leffew hit a 3-pointer followed by a layup by George Tinsley and the Mountaineers were within 87-80.
Mount St. Mary's got within seven one more time when Dallas Hobbs hit a jumper with 1:51 to go. Georgia then closed out the win with an alley-oop dunk by Jalen DeLoach, a free throw from Hill and a dunk by Melendez.
Georgia led 45-34 at halftime, with Abdur-Rahim leading the way with 21 points.
Leffew scored 26 points, Montgomery 23 and Cordilia 13 for the Mountaineers (4-6).
The Bulldogs improved to 7-0 at home this season and 20-4 in Mike White’s two seasons as their coach.
It was Georgia's middle game of a stretch of three home games in seven days. The Bulldogs defeated High Point last Saturday and will take on North Florida on Friday.
Mount St. Mary's plays at home against Long Island on Saturday.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2023/12/1219891/abdur-rahim-melendez-lead-georgia-over-mount-st-marys