NICEVILLE, FLA. – Brandon Maclin and Layden Blocker combined for 28 points in the second half helping rally DePaul to a 75-61 victory past Georgia Tech In the opening round of the Emerald Coast Classic men’s tournament Friday night at Raider Arena on the campus of Northwest Florida State College.
DePaul, which improved to 5-2, will play the winner of the LSU-Drake game for the championship at 6 pm Saturday.
Behind the duo, DePaul shot 60 percent (18-30) in the second half to rally from a 32-25 deficit.
Blocker tied a career-high with 18 points, including 14 in the second half. Maclin, a senior guard finished with a career-high 16 points including 14 in the second period. N.J. Benson added nine points and a game-high nine rebounds.
Blocker nailed a three-point basket to break a 52-52 tie and Maclin hit a layup to give the Demons a 57-53 lead it never relinquished.
DePaul later reeled off eight straight points, including four by Maclin, to push the cushion to 69-57 with 1:29 remaining.
Georgia Tech shot just 38.1 percent for the game, including 34.4 percent in the second half.
“I can’t say enough about our guys and their fight and competitiveness really throughout the game, “said DePaul head coach Chris Hotlmann. “I loved our fight for 40 minutes defensively.”
Freshman guard Akai Fleming came off the bench to lead Georgia Tech with 13 points. Freshman center Mouhamed Sylla added 10 points and seven rebounds for the Yellow Jackets, who slipped to 5-2.
There were three lead changes and two ties in the first half. Georgia Tech went on an 8-0 to grab a 28-23 lead with Ndongo scoring four points in the surge. A basket by Sylla stretched the lead to 32-24 with 30 seconds remaining in the first half.
