February 16, 2009

Box Score

DAHLONEGA, GA – North Georgia led by just a point at halftime before exploding for 47 second-half points and running away from Georgia Southwestern 92-80 Monday evening in Peach Belt Conference action.

The Saints win their second straight and improve to 13-10 overall and 7-10 in the PBC, while the Hurricanes fall to 9-15 overall and 5-12 in the league.

The Saints caught fire from long range, knocking down 14 three-pointers and shooting 58.3 percent from behind the arc to sail to victory. Andre Morgan paced North Georgia with 21 points on 5-6 shooting from three-point range, while four other players finished in double figures. Michael Moynihan notched his second double-double of the season, finishing with 16 points and 10 assists.

Chris Rawls led the Hurricanes with 21 points and 11 rebounds to record a double-double, while Anthony Sargent added 16 points and Evan Mobley chipped in 12.

With North Georgia leading 45-44 at intermission, the Hurricanes came out and took the lead on a layup from Marcus Scott to make it 48-47. The Saints then locked down on defense and put all the pieces together on the offensive end over the next six minutes to build a 12-point lead at 72-60 with 12:11 remaining in the game.

LaBrian Lyons gave North Georgia their largest lead of the night at 92-72 on a three-pointer with 4:48 remaining before GSW closed the gap and the Saints came away with the 92-80 victory.

The Saints shot 54.1 percent from the field, and were 75 percent from the free throw line, while Georgia Southwestern shot an even 50 percent from the floor and 72 percent from the charity stripe.

The Saints will host in-state rival Clayton State Wednesday evening in what is expecting to be a sold out crowd in Memorial Hall for Spirit Night 2009. Tip-off is slated for 7:00 p.m.