The No. 18 Florida Gators fell to Georgetown 66-65 in overtime in the opening round of the Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament in the Bahamas on Wednesday night.
With 12 seconds remaining in overtime, sophomore Kasey Hill made a layup to tie the game and was fouled. He swished the free-throw to give the Gators a 65-64 lead.
But Georgetown guard D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera came up clutch, draining a long two-point jumper to retake the lead and ultimately give the Hoyas the win. It was the 21st lead change of the game. Smith-Rivera finished with 17 points.
The Gators drop to 2-2 on the season. The Hoyas improve to 4-0 and will face second ranked Wisconsin in the semi-finals.
Both Dorian Finney-Smith and Eli Carter came off the bench and played significant minutes despite being questionable prior to the contest. Finney-Smith led Florida with 16 points on 6-for-9 shooting while grabbing six rebounds.
Carter, on the other hand, struggled to find his stroke. The junior guard scored six points on an abysmal 2-for-14 shooting; his potential game-winning bucket was rejected at the end of regulation.
The team had trouble shooting virtually all night, finishing the game 23-for-64 (35.9%) while Georgetown shot 24-for-49 (49%).
Jon Horford provided a lift for Florida despite leaving the game in the first half after taking an elbow to the chin from Georgetown big man Joshua Smith. Horford returned and finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
The Gators hope to bounce back when they take on UAB (2-3) in the consolation bracket on Thanksgiving night at 9:30 p.m. You can hear the game live on Country 103-7 The Gator.