Alvarado rallies Georgia Tech past Prairie View A&M 65-54

Nov 23, 2018, 11:16 pm

ATLANTA -- Jose Alvarado scored all 15 of his points in the second half Friday night when Brandon Alston scored 13 of his 14 to help Georgia Tech overcome a dreadful shooting start and rally to beat Prairie View A&M and avoid a home upset loss to a SWAC opponent for the second season in a row.

The Yellow Jackets (4-1) trailed by nine points early in the second half before Alvarado scored nine consecutive points and gave Tech its first lead of the game with 11:56 left. He took a defensive rebound, dribbled the length of the floor and laid in a basket between multiple Panthers in McCamish Pavilion.

Guard Gary Blackston led Prairie View A&M (1-6) with 19 points and nine rebounds, and forward Devonte Patterson pitched in 16 points.

Nearly one year ago, Tech fell behind Grambling State of the SWAC by 16 points and rallied to take the lead only to fall 64-63 when two Jackets inadvertently tipped a ball into the goal with six seconds remaining.

Friday night, Tech missed 16 of 20 shots to open the game, including all eight 3-point shots, and Prairie View A&M took a 24-14 lead on a pair of free throws by Taishaun Johnson with 4:11 left in the first half.

From there, the Jackets went inside, and scored at near point-blank range on four consecutive possessions -- by James Bank III, Moses Wright, Michael Devoe and Curtis Haywood II -- and closed to within 27-26 by halftime. The Yellow Jackets made their final six shots, all in the paint, before intermission.

The Panthers started quickly in the second half, too, but Georgia Tech shot 56 percent in the second half to pull away.

BIG PICTURE

Prairie View A&M: The undersized Panthers more than held their own on the boards, where they were outrebounded just 31-29, but ultimately they were undone in the paint where Georgia Tech outscored them 20-8 in the second half.

Georgia Tech: The Yellow Jackets continue to play stout defense, but they aren't likely to get much done in the ACC if they play offensively like they did Friday, when they were especially indecisive in the first half.

UP NEXT

Prairie View A&M: The Panthers will next play Dec. 1 at Murray State to continue a streak of 12 road games to open the season before their first home game Jan. 2 against Huston-Tillotson.

Georgia Tech: Will go on the road for the second time this season to play Northwestern Wednesday night in the ACC-Big 10 Challenge.

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