Gerald Robinson scored 22 points and fellow guard Dustin Ware 20, and they hit free throws and field goals at clutch times to lead Georgia over Winthrop 92-86 in overtime Tuesday night.
Winthrop (4-9), which beat Georgia 80-60 in 2003, the last time the teams met, got 33 points from Andre Jones, who became the school's 19th 1,000-point scorer.
The Bulldogs (8-5) trailed for all but the last 2.4 seconds of the final 2 1/2 minutes of regulation, but Robinson and Ware combined for all 14 of Georgia's points in the last 41 seconds. At the end, Ware hit a 3-pointer with 9.6 seconds to go and Robinson went coast-to-coast for a layup to tie the game 76-76 and force overtime.
In overtime, Ware hit another 3-pointer early and Georgia built an 86-78 lead after making 5 of 6 free throws and getting a stuff tip from Donte Williams with 2:34 to go. The Eagles never got closer than four points, but the game wasn't decided until Ware and Robinson hit four free throws in the final 22 seconds
Georgia's freshman starters Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Nemanja Djurisic scored 18 and 17 points, respectively.
Winthrop scored the first seven points of the game, including five by Jones, which was enough to give him 1,000 for his career.
The Eagles still led by seven points, 13-6 with 15:11 to go in the first half, when center George Valentine tipped in a missed shot.
The Bulldogs got hot from 3-point range, hitting four during a 13-6 run to tie the score for the first time at 19-19 with 10:37 to play on Caldwell-Pope's 3-pointer.
Georgia's first lead of the half came at the 9:20 mark on a layup by Vince Williams, making it 21-19.
The teams traded the lead seven times before the Bulldogs got late layups in transition from Robinson and Ware to take a 34-30 halftime lead.
Georgia ran out to a 48-35 lead 5 1/2 minutes into the second half, but Winthrop's Derrick Henry, who scored 17 points, hit three 3-pointers, and the Eagles tied the game at 48 with 10:35 to play on a spin move by Larry Brown.
A dunk and a 3-pointer by Caldwell-Pope sparked Georgia to a 59-51 lead with 6:57 to go, but the Eagles trimmed the lead to 59-58 when Jones hit three free throws with 5:08 remaining.
Jones hit back-to-back 3-pointers to put Winthrop up 64-62 with 2:29 to play. When Winthrop called a timeout with 1:51 left, Jones appeared to be cramping. But he came back out and hit a long 2-pointer to put Winthrop up 66-62 with 1:35 to go.
The Bulldogs put the game on the free-throw line, and Winthrop hit 10 of 12 down the stretch. But the two misses were just enough for Robinson and Ware to force overtime.
Djurisic started for the first time in place of Georgia's leading rebounder, Marcus Thornton, who underwent knee surgery Tuesday after an injury early in the Furman game Friday night. His return date is uncertain.
Djurisic got nine rebounds for Georgia.
