As his team trailed by six points with 47 seconds remaining in overtime, LSU sophomore guard Tim Quarterman showed visiting Georgia that a bench player can be as valuable as those who start.
On a night when the Tigers’ leading scorer was held in check, Quarterman delivered a career-high 27 points and forced double overtime with a 6-0 run, and LSU (12-3, 1-1 Southeastern Conference) clawed its way to a 87-84 rally past the Bulldogs (9-5, 0-2 SEC) on Saturday in the PMAC.
It was the Tigers’ second consecutive overtime game to begin SEC play, but this one had a much more satisfactory ending than the first.
“We know how tough we are mentally and physically, and in the crunch time we just all came together as a team,” said LSU junior guard Josh Gray. “That showed what we’re all about.”
After Georgia junior guard Charles Mann missed the second of two free throws, Quarterman grabbed the rebound and went coast-to-coast for a layup while drawing the foul. Quarterman then hit the free throw to tie the game, 80-80, and send it to double overtime.
Despite falling two rebounds shy of his ninth double-double of the season, LSU sophomore forward Jordan Mickey said it was Quarterman who secured the Tigers’ first win against Georgia since March 13, 2013.
“Tim played extremely well for us tonight, and he’s the reason we won this game,” Mickey said.

Despite trailing by nine in the first overtime, Quarterman said he never doubted whether his team would win.
“I told all my teammates in the huddle that we are not going to give up and we are going to continue to fight,” Quarterman said. “We got some turnovers, some easy buckets and made some difficult shots. We ended up playing well as a team. We fought as a team, and we overcame.”
Quarterman wasn’t the only reserve to spark the Tigers. LSU freshman guard Jalyn Patterson provided a career-high 15 points and went 3-for-6 from 3-point range against Georgia to go with Quarterman’s 6-for-10 clip. 
But Patterson couldn’t help but admire his teammate’s game-saving performance.
“[Quarterman] stepped up big,” Patterson said. “He saved me really. That’s my brother. He played big for us tonight. Even when we were down, he kept fighting.

Quarterman and Patterson’s big nights balanced out the lack of production from LSU sophomore forward Jarell Martin, who entered Saturday’s contest as the SEC’s leading scorer but had only seven points on 3-for-10 shooting before fouling out.
Despite securing the victory, LSU nearly handed the game to the Bulldogs. Trailing 64-56 with 7:11 left in regulation, Georgia ripped off a 11-3 run to send the game into overtime as LSU missed seven of its last eight field goals.
Bulldogs senior forward Marcus Thornton scored two of his 16 points with one second left in the second half to force the first extra session.
After Quarterman’s game-altering sequence to keep his team in the game, the Tigers went into the second overtime session and scored seven points, with five coming at the free throw line. The Bulldogs could only muster four points to drop to 0-2 in league play.
Mickey added 17 points and eight rebounds for the Tigers, but Saturday night belonged to Quarterman, who also tallied five rebounds, five assists, three blocks and three steals.
“Tim is a hooper,” Mickey said. “He never gives up and will give everything he has no matter how he is feeling. You get everything out of Tim every night.”