Dave Bliss banked in a shot with 0.4 seconds left in overtime, giving the last-place Bulldogs a thrilling 97-95 victory over Ole Miss in the first round of the Southeastern Conference tournament Thursday night.
The Rebels (21-10) finished the regular season on a three-game winning streak, including a 76-62 victory over Georgia last weekend that put the team squarely on the bubble for its first NCAA bid since 2002. They got to face the Bulldogs again six days later, but this time Georgia (14-16) prevailed.
Ole Miss sent the game to overtime when David Huertas was fouled on a 3-pointer and made all three free throws, and the Rebels looked to have forced another extra period when Chris Warren sank three after a virtually identical foul with 5.5 seconds left in OT.
But Georgia inbounded the ball to Corey Butler, who had fouled Warren. The walk-on guard drove nearly the length of the court before dumping the ball off to Bliss for an open 10-footer. He banked it in softly off the glass, sending the Bulldogs on to face Kentucky in the quarterfinals Friday night.
Georgia appeared to be in control when Gaines hit two free throws for a 63-50 lead with 12:58 remaining in regulation. Led by Huertas, the Rebels bounced back to outscore the Bulldogs 18-2 over the next 4½ minutes for a 68-65 lead. The sophomore guard from Puerto Rico accounted for 12 of the points on four 3-pointers, the last of which hit the rim, bounced off the backboard, hit the rim again and dropped through- the ultimate shooter’s roll.
Georgia withstood the Ole Miss run and appeared to have the game back in hand when Billy Humphrey hit a pair of free throws with 43 seconds left to make it 81-76.
Huertas hit another 3, and he got the ball back after Gaines missed a free throw with 15.5 seconds to go. With his team trailing 84-81, Huertas went up for a shot behind the arc and drew the foul from Humphrey, then swished three straight free throws to force overtime.
