January 7, 2010
By BUDDY HUGHES
The Brunswick News
Don Eason admits he struggled Wednesday during the College of Coastal Georgia's first Georgia Junior College Athletic Association game of the season against Albany Tech. The freshman from Brunswick High only had three points Wednesday night, but it was his last free throw that made the difference.
Eason sank a free throw with one second on the clock to give the Mariners an
80-79 come-from-behind win at Howard Coffin Gym.
The free throw was set up when Titans guard Wilbur Lake was whistled for a foul on Eason's last-ditch 3-point heave from about 35 feet.
"I just threw it up and hoped for the best," said Eason.
The Titans had tied the game on a 3-pointer by Duran Blue with 12 seconds left on the clock.
It looked like the Mariners were going to get run out of their gym after one half. The Titans used a 16-3 run to seize control of the game and build up a
44-29 halftime lead.
CCGA (6-10 overall, 1-0 GJCAA) trailed by as much as 14 in the second half before its defense sparked a 35-11 Mariner run that absorbed most of the second half. Johathan Brooks took over the scoring load for CCGA, scoring 23 of his game high 25 points in the second half. Brooks did most of his damage in the paint with a jump hook.
"It didn't hurt that (Brooks) got hot and we got it to him where he could shoot," Mariners coach Gerald Cox said.
Cox has had to shuffle his lineup because of academic issues with a few players. The Mariners had only eight guys available for Wednesday's game.
Cox adjusted his lineup at the half and he said it made a difference.
"We're playing a totally different lineup than we normally have," Cox said.
"We don't normally play with three big guys but we felt like we had to. In the second half, I just said to hell with it, we're going to go with three perimeter guys and two inside and we played a lot better like that."
With Brooks controlling the paint, Jaren Harris bombed away from behind the arc. Harris finished the game with 22 points, including five 3-pointers.
The Mariners' lead reached 76-66 before the Titans (8-9, 0-1) made a 10-1 run of to get back into the game. Harris hit two free throws with 23 seconds left to extend CCGA's lead to 79-76. Blue's second-chance 3-pointer tied the game.
Cox has been impressed with the way his team has played in light of the recent adversity with the team's roster.
"They're hanging in there," Cox said of his players. "They're playing hard
(and) not giving up. They could have easily given up in tonight's game but they didn't. Good things happen when you hang in there and try hard."
The Mariners are at home Saturday in non-conference play against Aiken Tech at 3 p.m.