ATHENS — Noah Thomasson had 24 points, Justin Hill scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half and Georgia beat Winthrop 78-69 on Friday night.
Georgia led 55-41 with 12:39 remaining after a 3-pointer by Hill, but Winthrop scored 12 of the next 14 points to get within four points. The Eagles were as close as 64-60 with 4:54 left before RJ Melendez made a layup and Thomasson added a contested 3-pointer on Georgia’s next possession for a nine-point lead.
Thomasson added another 3-pointer, from nearly the same spot on the court, to make it 72-63. He added a driving layup with 27.4 left for a 74-67 lead.
Jabri Abdur-Rahim scored all 10 of his points in the first half for Georgia (3-3).
Thomasson and Abdur-Rahim combined for 22 of Georgia’s 36 first-half points. The Bulldogs closed the first half on a 14-4 run to take a seven-point lead into the break despite shooting just 39%. Winthrop was 12 of 26 from the field (46%) but got outrebounded 22-13 and made seven less free throws.
Kelton Talford scored 19 points for Winthrop (4-3). Kasen Harrison added 14 points and K.J. Doucet had 10.
Georgia plays Florida State on Wednesday in the ACC/SEC Challenge. Winthrop faces NCCAA-member Bob Jones on Tuesday.
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