Decatur Boys Lose 48-47 To Greater Atlanta Christian On Last-Second Shot

Greater Atlanta Christian sophomore Troy Morrison hit a sweeping left-hand layup with less than a second remaining to give his team a 48-47 win over Decatur's boys Friday night in the Region 6-AA seminfinals.

From the moment Decatur's Cordele Jackson nailed an 18-footer with 5:46 left in the first, giving Decatur a 16-14 lead, the Bulldogs never trailed until Morrison's buzzer beater.

There was some controversy on the last play. Trailing by one, GAC worked the perimeter when Decatur's Murad Dillard was decked by a forearm to the chest.

No call was made, giving GAC a two-on-one advantage on the left side. That allowed Colin Swinton to dish to Morrison for the game winner.

"Yes, I'm upset about it," Decatur coach Charlie Copp said afterwords. "The officials did a good job, they let the kids play, but that was a foul that should've been called."

Still, this game was Decatur's to win, thanks to two unlikely contributors.

Senior Desmond Tuft came off the bench and hit 5 of 6 three pointers, including four in a row in the second quarter, and scored a career-high 18 points. Jackson, a 6-3 junior, came off the bench for seven blocks.

Decatur, in its best single game all season, shot 17 of 42 from the field for 40 percent, including 9 of 17 in three pointers.

All this put the Bulldogs in a position to give GAC its first regional loss in five years. When Kurt Robinson scored on a slash move with 2:07 left in the game Decatur led 44-37 and all it needed to do from here on was hit free throws.

It didn't happen. On a night in which they played so well, the Bulldogs made only 4 of 16 free throws, including 4 of 14 in the fourth quarter.

The Spartans made 20 of 27 free throws, thus the difference in the game.

Decatur had 17 field goals to only 12 for GAC, normally an offensive powerhouse averaging over 70 points per game.

Decatur still led 45-40 with 40.5 seconds left when Swinton hit a clutch 17-footer despite suffocating defense from Robinson. Twelve seconds later Swinton hit two free throws to pull GAC within one. He hit two more free throw with 14.3 left, cutting it again to one 47-46.
 
Meantime the Spartans fouled Decatur immediately after every score in the last three minutes. After Swinton's free throws they fouled Tuft with 12 seconds left. He missed both shots, thus setting the table for Morrison, who finished with four points.

Swinton scored 12 and Delano Spencer 13 for GAC.

Decatur, 13-14, will play South Atlanta in a 3:30 p.m. Saturday cosolation game. A Decatur win give the Bulldogs a third seed in next week's state tournament. 

GAC will play Buford in the 6:30 p.m. championship game.