The Georgia men’s basketball team took on Furman last night in what turned into be a close one. It was the second game of the CBE Hall of Fame Classic, and the Paladins gave Georgia everything they had. However, the Paladins couldn’t close as Georgia won the game 84-78.The duo Yante Maten and J.J. Frazier lead the way as they both had impressive performances.

The two combined for 55 of the 84 points the team scored. Frazier was the team’s leading scorer with 28 points. Maten racked up 27 points. These numbers are season high for both players.

The game came down to the wire and was almost too close for comfort for the Dawgs.

“That was a hard-fought game. We were very concerned about how we could defend. I haven’t been pleased with our defense… Furman has an excellent offensive team, and we were concerned about our ability to guard them coming into the game. I don’t think we did a great job, but you have to give them credit, too. They have a nice basketball team, they’re going to win a lot of games, and they’re very well coached. We had a lot of guys chip in our two big guns showed up (Yante Maten and J.J. Frazier) like they should, but we had a lot of other guys chip in, which was good to see,” Coach Fox said.

Both teams shot a similar game from the floor as Georgia shot 52.8 percent and the Paladins 50.0 percent. Both teams played very aggressively and the matchup was even.

“Coach told us not to underestimate them, because if you do, they’ll beat you. We saw that tonight, they’re a really good team. They have a really good offense, really good players; they’re a good team overall,” Maten said.

Finding that third primary scorer was evident in this game. However, guys like Mike Edwards and Juwan Parker showed that it could be anyone. There was a lot of contribution from the team tonight, and that is something positive for this team to have. Edwards came up with two huge momentum changing dunks and ended the game with eight points. Parker also had eight points.

This matchup against Furman was a test for the Dawgs and a huge learning experience as well. Georgia will travel to Kansas City, Mo. next to continue the CBE Hall of Fame Classic with a matchup against George Washington. They tip off on Monday at 7 p.m. and on Tuesday the Dawgs will either play UAB or Kansas to end the CBE Hall of Fame Classic.