Jackets pull away down the stretch to beat Monmouth

Georgia Tech had a bit of a battle on its hands Saturday afternoon but was able to control the final eight minutes to take down Monmouth by a 79-67 score at McCamish Pavilion.

The Jackets (6-4) trailed Monmouth (5-5) 56-54 with 8:42 remaining but proceeded to outscore the visitors 23-13 from that point on, including a couple separate 6-0 runs, to pull away for the double-digit victory.

Georgia Tech was led by a pair of big performances from Lamar Washington and Kowacie Reeves Jr. who tied for the game high in scoring with 23 points apiece. Washington added eight rebounds and six assists while Reeves was 3-for-5 from 3-point range.

Tech’s Mo Sylla narrowly missed another double-double as he scored 13 points and pulled down nine rebounds. Jaeden Mustaf scored nine points off the bench.

The first half was tight throughout with neither team holding more than a eight-point lead. Monmouth led 20-12 close to the midway point of the first half, but Georgia Tech closed out the half strong to take a 32-31 advantage to the halftime break.

The second half started the same way with each team answering back and forth with buckets before Monmouth built its 56-54 lead prior to Tech’s last big run.

Monmouth had four players reach double figures with Stefanos Spartalis leading the way with 14 points. Justin Ray added 13 points, and Jason Rivera-Torres and Cornelius Robinson Jr. each had 11. Rivera-Torres had the top rebound total with eight, and Robinson added seven.

Georgia Tech will be off for 10 days while the players complete their first semester with finals before Damon Stoudamire‘s bunch hosts Marist on Tuesday, Dec. 16 at 7:30 p.m. at McCamish Pavilion.