SAINT LEO, Fla. | Zyair Greene and Brendan Rigsbee combined for 51 points as Georgia College & State University defeated Saint Leo University 97-92 in a non-conference men's basketball game Friday (Nov. 17) evening at the Marion Bowman Center.

The Bobcats, who will play their first 11 games on the road, improved to 3-0, while the Lions fell to 1-2. GCSU travels down Interstate 75 Saturday (Nov. 18) for a 2:30 p.m. contest against the University of Tampa in Tampa, Florida.

Saint Leo led 48-43 at the half, but the Bobcats, who shot 72 percent (18-of-25) from the field and hit 6-of-10 three-pointers in the final 20 minutes, outscored the Lions 54-44 in the second half. Greene scored 18 of his game-high 26 points  and Rigsbee threw in 15 of his career-high (tied) 25 points in the second stanza.

The Lions pushed their lead out to seven points (56-49) on a Grant Disken basket with 17:29 to play in the second half, but a dunk from Brady Spence less than three minutes later tied the game at 60. A Spence putback with 12:35 to go increased the Bobcat lead to eight points (70-62).

Saint Leo rallied to regain the lead 74-73 on a Kanon Koster jumper in the paint with 9:17 remaining. However, GCSU knotted the game at 77 on two Austin Sloan free throws 90 seconds later. 

The Bobcats extended their lead out to 88-83 on a Richard Crawford III jumper with 85 seconds left. Saint Leo closed to within three points (88-85), but a Rigsbee jumper in the paint gave Georgia College a 90-85 lead with 46 ticks left and quelled the Lion rally. GCSU salted the game away from the free throw line as they nailed 7-of-8 attempts in the final 33 seconds. Greene connected on four of them, while Crawford sank three.

Greene finished hitting 8-of-15 from the floor, including 6-of-12 from long distance, while Rigsbee went 10-of-13 from the field to go along with his six rebounds and three blocks. Crawford finished with 13 points and six assists, while Sloan added 11 points. Spence finished with a double double as he pulled down 11 rebounds to go along with his 10 points.

About GCSU Athletics 
Owning the top Academic Success Rate among public schools in Division II in back to back academic years, the Georgia College Department of Athletics sponsors 11 varsity athletic programs at the NCAA Division II level. GCSU Athletics has won three-straight Presidents' Awards for Academic Excellence, and are two-time winners of the PBC Commissioner's Cup and three-time winners of the PBC Institution of the Year Sportsmanship Award. As a Division II program, Bobcat Athletics prides itself on balancing the life of the student-athlete, evidenced by the teams' continued appearances in postseason competition as well as high-level academic success and community-service involvement. Bobcat Athletics embodies the mantra of "Graduating Champions for Life." Sign up at @GCSUBobcats on all social media outlets for up-to-the-minute reports or subscribe to the GSCU Athletics e-newsletter to receive the latest news, schedule updates and to interact with GCSU Athletics. Read Full Article