AMERICUS, Ga. – Junior guard Ryan Blumenthal (Kennesaw) scored 24 points, guiding Georgia College men's basketball (8-5, 2-2 PBC) to a 74-71 win at Georgia Southwestern State University (5-6, 0-4 PBC) Monday night.

The Hurricanes out-scored Georgia College 37-32 in the second half, but Blumenthal scored 15 of his 24 in the second half to hold off the charge.

Tied 69-69 with 52 seconds left, junior Juwan Hubbard (Rockford, Illinois) knocked down a shot from long-range for a three-point lead with 25 ticks left. After a Hurricane layup cut the lead to one, Hubbard pushed the game back to three with six seconds remaining on a pair of free throws. GSW missed a tying attempt from three as the game came to a close.

Blumenthal was perfect on the night, 6-of-6 from the field, 1-for-1 from three-point and 11-for-11 from the free-throw line. Hubbard finished with seven points, including the five most important scores of the game. Larrentis Thomas (McDonough) added nine points and nine rebounds, while point guard Evyn Smith (Snellville) managed six points with four assists.  

The Bobcats out-shot GSW 52 percent (26-50) to 48 percent (26-54) from the floor, Georgia College's best shooting game of the year. The Bobcats also won the battle of the boards 32-26.

Josh Birchfield led GSW with 28 points, including 13-for-18 from the field. Darius Redding added 14 and Darius Hoisten 10.

The Bobcats are back in action Wednesday, Jan. 7 at 8:30 p.m., traveling to the University of Montevallo.

The Georgia College Department of Athletics, two-time winners of the PBC Commissioner's Cup, sponsors 11 varsity athletic programs at the NCAA Division II level. As a Division II program, Bobcat Athletics prides itself on balancing the life of the student-athlete, evidenced by the teams' multiple appearances in post-season competition as well as documented academic success and community-service involvement. Sign up at @GCBobcats on Twitter and Facebook for up-to-the-minute reports, and visit GCBobcats.PhotoReflect.com to purchase photo prints from home athletic contests.