Kowacie Reeves Jr., Lamar Washington and Akai Fleming each scored 20 points to help Georgia Tech turn away Lafayette 95-81 on Saturday in Atlanta.
It was the most points scored this season by Georgia Tech (8-4), which has won three straight games. The Yellow Jackets improved to 8-1 at home, their best start at McCamish Pavilion since 2015-16.
Reeves was 7-for-16 from the field, had nine rebounds, and posted his fourth straight 20-point game.
Washington was 6-for-10 from the field, 3-for-3 on 3-pointers and added 10 assists for his second straight double-double, while Fleming was 4-for-8 from the field and 11-for-12 at the foul line.
Georgia Tech played without Baye Ndongo, who was ill. The absence allowed 7-foot freshman Peyton Marshall to log more minutes (16), and he responded with a career-high 10 points, four rebounds and two blocks.
Lafayette (3-10) was led by Caleb Williams and Mark Butler with 20 points each. Andre Phillips scored 15 and Christian Humphrey-Rembert added 12 points and eight rebounds.
Lafayette had some success inside early, and the score was 11-11 at the 15:41 mark. That’s when Georgia Tech began to find its offensive rhythm and scored 12 straight points, with Washington and Kelley each hitting 3-pointers en route to a 23-11 lead. Lafayette went 4:16 without scoring.
Lafayette got a pair of 3-pointers from Humphrey-Rembert to pull to 40-36 with 2:50 remaining, only to have Georgia Tech go on a 7-0 run to regain control. The Yellow Jackets led 49-43 at halftime.
But Georgia Tech went cold — shooting 3-for-11 in the first five minutes of the second half — and the Leopards refused to go away. Lafayette drew to within a point on a 3-pointer from Phillips and a nice drive by Butler that cut the score to 56-55 with 14:48 left.
The Leopards stayed close until an 11-2 run gave Georgia Tech a 75-63 lead with 6:59 remaining. Lafayette never got closer than seven points the rest of the game.
–Field Level Media
