Georgia's Jarvis Hayes (24) pulls down a rebound on a missed shot by Miami's Alex Shorts. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        HONOLULU — Ezra Williams scored eight points during a 17-6 second-half run that gave Georgia a 21-point lead, but the Bulldogs had to hang on to turn back Miami 64-59 Friday night to advance to the championship game of the Rainbow Classic.

        The run built a 47-26 advantage and Georgia (11-1) appeared to be ready to cruise to its sixth straight win. But the RedHawks (3-6), who upset No.10 Boston College in the first round, got back into the game behind the work of Juby Johnson.

        The sophomore guard sparked a 19-9 spurt with 11 straight points on three 3-pointers and a pair of free throws to cut the margin to nine with 6:51 left. Then, his basket with 24 seconds left made it 62-59.

        Rashad Wright sealed the win for the Bulldogs with a pair of free throws.

        Williams finished with 17 points and Jarvis Hayes added 14 points for Georgia. Johnson finished with 14 points and Alex Shorts 12 for Miami.

        Shorts hit his first two shots of the game, but Georgia responded with the next nine points to take the lead for good.

        The RedHawks cut the lead to 17-14, but the Bulldogs went off on a 13-5 run, with Williams knocking down a pair of 3-pointers, to give them a 30-19 lead at the midway mark.

        Over the first 20 minutes, Georgia controlled the boards 23-13 and held the RedHawks to a 7-of-25 performance from the field. Miami made it close over the final 20 minutes by making 13 of 29 shots and grabbing 19 rebounds.

        Georgia will play Hawaii today; Miami will face Iona.

MIAMI  (59)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Drake           25   1-4   0-0   1-2  1  0    2
Mason           34   2-7   2-4   3-7  3  4    6
Johnson         35   4-8   3-4   1-4  0  4   14
Horace          23   3-7   2-2   2-5  1  2    8
Shorts          26  5-14   2-2   1-5  0  4   12
Helmers         15   1-2   0-0   0-1  0  1    3
Seals           22   3-7   0-1   0-5  3  1    7
Davis            6   0-2   0-0   0-0  1  0    0
Reed            14   1-3   5-5   1-1  0  3    7
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 20-54 14-18  9-30  9 19   59
_______________________________________________


Percentages: FG-.370, FT-.778. 3-Point Goals:
5-18, .278 (Drake 0-3, Mason 0-2, Johnson 3-7,
Shorts 0-1, Helmers 1-1, Seals 1-3, Davis 0-1).
Team rebounds: 2. Blocked shots: None. Turnovers:
10 (Mason 3, Johnson 2, Shorts 2, Drake, Reed,
Seals). Steals: 6 (Seals 2, Davis, Helmers,
Johnson, Mason).


GEORGIA (64)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Wright          28   1-4   6-8   0-1  4  1    8
Williams        33  6-13   0-0   1-2  2  0   17
Ja Hayes        35  6-13   2-3   0-4  3  2   14
Daniels         24   4-6   0-0   2-8  3  5    8
Thomas          32   3-5   1-3   1-8  1  3    7
Dean             4   0-0   0-0   0-1  0  0    0
Cole            13   1-3   0-0   0-0  1  0    3
Patrick          7   0-0   0-0   0-1  2  0    0
Jo Hayes        24   2-4   3-4   1-2  0  4    7
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 23-48 12-18  5-27 16 15   64
_______________________________________________


Percentages: FG-.479, FT-.667. 3-Point Goals:
6-15, .400 (Wright 0-1, Williams 5-9, Ja Hayes
0-2, Daniels 0-1, Cole 1-2). Team rebounds: 2.
Blocked shots: 4 (Thomas 2, Daniels, Jo Hayes).
Turnovers: 12 (Daniels 5, Williams 3, Wright 2,
Dean, Ja Hayes). Steals: 3 (Daniels, Patrick,
Williams).
__________________________________
Miami              19   40  -   59
Georgia            30   34  -   64
__________________________________
Technical fouls: None. Officials: Lonnie Dixon,
Bobby Hunt, Craig Peterson.

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