MONTGOMERY — NAIA No. 3 Georgetown (Ky.) barely escaped being the next victim of the WVU Tech upset tour.

David Graham sank a pair of free throws with :0.9 left Saturday at the Baisi Athletic Center, lifting the Tigers to an 80-78 thriller over the Golden Bears.

On the pivotal play, Graham’s teammate, Demetrius Guions, drove the baseline and dished the ball across the lane to a waiting Graham, who went up for a shot and was fouled by Tech’s Rickey Young, his fifth personal. He calmly canned both freebies to put the Tigers in charge, 80-78.

On the ensuing inbound, a pass intended for the Bears’ Sam Robertson near half-court was deflected by Guions, giving the Tigers their 17th straight win.

“No. 1: They need to support this man (Tech coach Bob Williams) up here. They outplayed us, they outcoached us,” Georgetown coach Happy Osborne said. “We’re lucky to get out of here.

“They did everything they could to win.”

The Golden Bears had posted two big victories in the seven days leading up to Saturday’s matchup — a 96-91 upset of then-NAIA No. 1 Mountain State University, followed by a 71-69 overtime conquest of NAIA No. 9 Cumberlands two days ago.

But a third straight toppling of a Top 10 squad wasn’t to be.

“They’ve got bigger, stronger players at every position,” said Tech’s Williams, who “wasn’t happy” with the final foul call on Young. “They’re huge and they’re physical.

“Our kids showed a lot of heart, guts and character. I’m happy with the way we battled back.”

In a game that featured seven ties and eight lead changes, Tech erased a 53-44 deficit with a spirited 18-9 run midway through the second half, knotting the score at 62-all on an inbound jumper by Darryl Slack at the 8:57 mark. Young then scored on a putback to make it 64-62.

Later, with Georgetown leading 68-66, Tech got a three-point play from Victor McGee and a McGee deuce off a Young feed to go up 71-68 with 6:06 to play. The Tech advantage reached four points twice, 74-70 and 76-72, before the Tigers stiffened and made a late surge.

Guions hit a spinner in the lane to cut the lead in half, then Vincent Crutcher tied it at 76-all with a pair of free throws with 1:13 remaining. Tech’s Zack Thomsen, who scored a team-high 19 points, answered with two charity tosses of his own, then Guions came back with a strong inside move for a 78-78 score with 45.4 seconds left to set the stage for Graham’s eventual winning points.

“(Guions) finally went to work in the last four minutes,” Osborne said of the senior who is averaging 12 points per game. “Our defense was not good.”

“We got up four and missed a wide-open look that (could have added on to the lead),” Williams said. “And we didn’t get the stops at the end.”

Georgetown shot out of the gates on a 7-0 spurt with Jerry Turner burying a three and Vic Moses and Graham converting two-point goals off early Tech turnovers. The Bears eventually went ahead 11-10 on a Thomsen trey from the left wing off a Robertson assist, and the game remained tight until the Tigers claimed a 41-34 lead at the intermission buzzer on a Moses putback.

Slack scored 14, McGee 13 and Young 11 to support Thomsen’s scoring for Tech.

Moses collected 19 points and 12 rebounds for Georgetown, which limited Tech to 38.1 percent field goal shooting. Guions contributed 11 points and seven boards.

In the preceding women’s game, Georgetown coasted to an 83-35 verdict. Katie Filiatreau netted 15 points to lead four Tigers in double figures, while Kayla Muncy scored 11 and Ashley Blaney and Sharnage Young nine each for Tech.

The Georgetown men (20-1, 4-0 Mid-South) seek another league win Thursday at home against St. Catharine College.

Tech (15-5, 2-1) looks to rebound at NAIA No. 16 Lindsey Wilson, a Mid-South foe, on Thursday.

“This really is a disappointing loss,” Williams said. “But this has been a great week for Tech basketball.”

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