Gators avoid choke job as Florida basketball prevails in overtime over Georgia

For 35 minutes, it looked like Florida basketball was going to cruise over Georgia and send Mid Major Mike White back to Athens with a reminder of why he wasn't the man to lead Florida to the mountaintop.

But Todd Golden said "Not so fast my friend" as the Gators tried to give away a game that would have almost derailed the season for the Gators.

In the end, Florida held on the win in overtime in a game that left Gator fans more frustrated that exulted.

Florida Basketball: Almost Blew It

There is the phrase "A win is a win," and ultimately the Gators won 102-98 in overtime. But witnessing the near collapse in real time didn't feel like a convincing statement for Florida.

When Alex Condon made a layup with 12:34 left in the second half, Florida was up but 21 points.

Even as Georgia tried to claw back, two Micah Handlogten made two free throws with 5:35 left, Florida still had a 14 point lead. And a made layup by Walter Clayton with with 2:59 left had the Gators still up by 10 points.

A three by Georgia, two free throws, another three, and a layup tied the score up at 85-85 while Florida couldn't execute their own offensive sets, leading to late and desperate shots that couldn't find the basket.

Georgia even had a chance to win the game at the end of regulation, but a steal by Will Richard, followed by a near miss on the other side sent a game once in the bag into overtime.

The Gators were able to settle down after the collapse and Richard put in a layup with 55 seconds left to give Florida a seven point lead that this time they were able to hold on to.

The end result moves Florida to 14-7 overall, 4-3 in SEC play, and concludes a three game stretch of game the Gators had to win to keep their NCAA tournament hopes alive. Next up is a chance at redemption as the Gators will travel to Lexington to take on Kentucky on Wednesday.