Georgia 74, Florida Atlantic 61

Georgia forward Marcus Thornton scored 17 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, and the Bulldogs beat Florida Atlantic 74-61 Sunday at Stegeman Coliseum in Athens, Ga.

The Bulldogs (3-1) grabbed a 35-27 halftime lead and extended the margin quickly after intermission. The lead grew as high as 18 points with less than three minutes to play, ending any hopes of an Owls comeback.

Guard Kenny Gaines finished with 15 points, but he and Thornton were the only Georgia players to reach double figures. Bulldogs forward Nemanja Djurisic contributed eight points and 10 rebounds.

Florida Atlantic, which was coming off a tough loss to Ivy League power Harvard on Thursday night, fell to 1-3 with Sunday’s defeat.

Owls guard Marquan Botley led all scorers with 20 points, and he chipped in six assists and five rebounds. Guard Jackson Trapp followed with 15 points, and guard Justin Massey and forward Kelvin Penn each added 11 points. Penn shot a perfect 5-for-5 from the field and led the Owls with seven rebounds.

Georgia improved to 3-0 in the teams’ all-time series.

Florida Atlantic has a week off until its next game, Nov. 30 against South Florida Catholic school Ave Maria.

Georgia returns to action Wednesday against Gonzaga in New York as part of the NIT Season Tip-Off before playing either St. John’s or Minnesota on Friday.