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Ga. Tech advances to championship

Cal State Bakersfield guard Dedrick Basile (right) and Georgia Tech’s Ben Lammers fight for the ball during the men’s NIT semifi nals Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden in New York. The Yellowjackets will play in the championship game Thursday after beating the Roadrunners 76-61.
Cal State Bakersfield guard Dedrick Basile (right) and Georgia Tech’s Ben Lammers fight for the ball during the men’s NIT semifi nals Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden in New York. The Yellowjackets will play in the championship game Thursday after beating the Roadrunners 76-61.

GEORGIA TECH 76,

CAL STATE BAKERSFIELD 51

NEW YORK -- Josh Okogie scored a game-high 22 points to lead Georgia Tech to a 76-61 victory over Cal State Bakersfield in an NIT semifinal Tuesday night.

Ben Lammers finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds for Georgia Tech, which will take on either Texas Christian or Central Florida in the championship game Thursday night.

Quinton Stephens added 13 points, and Tadric Jackson had 12.

The Yellow Jackets led almost the entire game, due to a strong defensive effort and excellent ball management. Georgia Tech forced 15 turnovers while only committing seven. Eighteen of the Yellow Jackets' 76 points came off Cal State Bakersfield turnovers.

Sharp shooting aided the Yellow Jackets. Georgia Tech connected on 43.3 percent of its shots (26 for 60) while limiting the Roadrunners to 35 percent shooting (21 for 60).

At halftime, the Yellow Jackets (21-15) had a 36-26 lead highlighted by Jackson's running three-pointer at the buzzer.

Georgia Tech put away the game midway through the second half. Following Dedrick Basile's three which sliced the lead to 40-31, Georgia Tech outscored Cal State Bakersfield 15-6 over a 4:53 span to push the advantage to 55-37.

Basile led Cal State Bakersfield (25-10) with 18 points. Jaylin Airington chipped in with 12, and Damiyne Durham and Shon Briggs had 10 points apiece.

Okogie's soaring two-handed dunk along the baseline with 2:38 left punctuated the rout.

For Cal State Bakersfield, the loss concluded the longest season in school history. The Roadrunners played 35 games in 2016-17, breaking the record of 34 set in 1989-90.

Georgia Tech improved to 14-9 all-time in the NIT, despite qualifying for the tournament's semifinal for the first time since 1971. The Yellow Jackets join North Carolina as the only other Atlantic Coast Conference team that has a chance to win a postseason championship.

TCU 68, CENTRAL FLORIDA 53

NEW YORK — Kenrich Williams scored 12 of his 14 points in the second half to lift Texas Christian to a victory over Central Florida.

Texas Christian (23-15) will meet Georgia Tech in the championship game Thursday night.

Williams also grabbed 14 rebounds and had seven assists.

Vladimir Brodziansky led the Horned Frogs with 18 points.

Trailing by two at halftime, the Horned Frogs opened the second half with a 16-5 run to take a 45-36 lead. JD Miller sparked the run with three layups and a free throw.

TCU was helped by Central Florida, which missed five of its first seven shots from the field in the second half.

NIT at a glance

SEMIFINALS

At Madison Square Garden New York TUESDAY’S GAMES Georgia Tech 76, CS Bakersfield 61 TCU 68, Central Florida 53

CHAMPIONSHIP

THURSDAY’S GAME — All times Central Georgia Tech (21-15) vs. TCU (23-15), 7 p.m.

Sports on 03/29/2017

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