Written by Adrian Beecher
Lake Buena Vista, FL - Josh Perkins 18 points and 2 steals, helped lead the Gonzaga Bulldogs to a come back victory over the Florida Gators and clinch their spot in the 2016 Advocare Invitational Championship game against No. 21 Iowa State Sunday.
Florida got things underway with Devin Robinson hitting the first basket of the game. The Zags got their first basket of the game with 2:14 expired off the clock to tie things up at 2. Then the next 5 minutes were filled with back and forth basketball as things were tied up at 9 with 12:11 left in the 1st.
Florida then went on a 10-2 run to take a 19-11 lead with 8:33 left in the first half. Back-to-back buckets for the Zags cut the deficit to just 5. However, with 4:22 left to play the Gators had pulled out to their biggest lead of the game at 11 points. Gonzaga then went on a 9-2 run the cut the lead to just 4 points with 2:02 left in the first half with a slam dunk from Zach Collins.
5 points from Josh Perkins had the Florida lead down to just 3 points as the back and forth affair continued. The final basket of the first half then came from Gators forward Devin Robinson to send Florida into the locker room with a 37-32 lead.
Jonathan Williams hit a jumper to get things going for the Zags in the second half, cutting the Gators lead to just 3 yet again. Florida would miss their first three shots of the 2ndh half before Przemek Karnowski put in a layup to cut it to just a 1 score lead just a minute and 35 seconds into the 2nd.
Over the next four minutes, Florida would do everything they could to stave off the Zags comeback bid. After the Zags tied, then Gators would get a basket. Zags would get within 1, then Florida would get a basket. With 14:30 left on the clock Florida was up 46-45.
Florida would extend their lead again, this time to 5 points with just 11:38 left on the clock. Then the Zags got hot, going on a 10-2 run, capped off by a triple from Silas Melson to give the Bulldogs a 60-57 lead with 8:46 left on the clock. They then added an 8-2 run to take a 9-point lead with just 5:34 left on the clock.
Not one to back down the gators did what they could to cut down the lead and with 1:41 left on the play clock, it was just a 4-point deficit for the SEC powerhouse. From this point it turned into a free throw game and the Gators were unable to get closer than 4. As the final whistle sounded it was a 77-72 win for No. 11 Gonzaga.
Florida got things underway with Devin Robinson hitting the first basket of the game. The Zags got their first basket of the game with 2:14 expired off the clock to tie things up at 2. Then the next 5 minutes were filled with back and forth basketball as things were tied up at 9 with 12:11 left in the 1st.
Florida then went on a 10-2 run to take a 19-11 lead with 8:33 left in the first half. Back-to-back buckets for the Zags cut the deficit to just 5. However, with 4:22 left to play the Gators had pulled out to their biggest lead of the game at 11 points. Gonzaga then went on a 9-2 run the cut the lead to just 4 points with 2:02 left in the first half with a slam dunk from Zach Collins.
5 points from Josh Perkins had the Florida lead down to just 3 points as the back and forth affair continued. The final basket of the first half then came from Gators forward Devin Robinson to send Florida into the locker room with a 37-32 lead.
Jonathan Williams hit a jumper to get things going for the Zags in the second half, cutting the Gators lead to just 3 yet again. Florida would miss their first three shots of the 2ndh half before Przemek Karnowski put in a layup to cut it to just a 1 score lead just a minute and 35 seconds into the 2nd.
Over the next four minutes, Florida would do everything they could to stave off the Zags comeback bid. After the Zags tied, then Gators would get a basket. Zags would get within 1, then Florida would get a basket. With 14:30 left on the clock Florida was up 46-45.
Florida would extend their lead again, this time to 5 points with just 11:38 left on the clock. Then the Zags got hot, going on a 10-2 run, capped off by a triple from Silas Melson to give the Bulldogs a 60-57 lead with 8:46 left on the clock. They then added an 8-2 run to take a 9-point lead with just 5:34 left on the clock.
Not one to back down the gators did what they could to cut down the lead and with 1:41 left on the play clock, it was just a 4-point deficit for the SEC powerhouse. From this point it turned into a free throw game and the Gators were unable to get closer than 4. As the final whistle sounded it was a 77-72 win for No. 11 Gonzaga.