ROBERTA, GA -- Driving into the heart of Crawford County, the community was shutdown. In a perfect cliché, businesses were closed down and traffic was non-existent. The city wasn't sleeping just after the sun was hidden away by an evening fog.

Not at all. It was game night at Crawford County. More importantly, it was time for the Flint River Rivalry at Taylor County came to town. One of middle Georgia's best basketball games of the year was taking place on Tuesday night and no one in Robert, Georgia (population 1,000) was going to miss it.

It was senior night for the school and the crowd was decked out in purple and gold on one side while Taylor County's students were jammed into a corner of the gymnasium. With a full house, the temperatures rose and on-lookers fanned themselves with game programs like a Sunday afternoon in July.

The stage was set for a great night of basketball. The players didn't disappoint.

Taylor County senior Gerdarius Troutman hit a three-pointer with 3:34 to play in the fourth quarter to give his team a 64-63 lead that held on to the final buzzer. Taylor County won 72-69.

Troutman finished with 31 points in the win and had coaches from South Alabama, St. Peter's and Wofford on hand to see him play. Troutman was good in the second half, scoring 18 points in the final 12 minutes of the game.

"It was real important for us to get that shot," Troutman said of his go-ahead score. "At first, my shot wasn't really falling so I started going to the rack but when I hit that shot, I felt like it was time for it to start going."

Crawford County always seemed to have a response to a Troutman score. Freshman big man John Corbin was the strongest player on the floor and muscled his way through the Taylor County defense for buckets in the paint and rebounds.

Sophomore wing William Jarrell scored 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in the defeat. The long 6-foot-4 wing showed flashes of why many believe he's one of the more promising prospects in Middle Georgia.

The game was hard-fought and competitive in all the right ways. The sold out crowd was treated to a February gem on Tuesday night.

"We made a statement in our region," Troutman said. "This gives us a lot of momentum and confidence. Earlier in the season we lost back-to-back region games and we lost some confidence. So, to get this win at this place in front of their fans should allow us to be ready."

The teams are now tied for first place in Region 4-AA.