Box Score

DAHLONEGA, GA – The North Georgia College & State University men’s basketball team put an end to a four-game skid Thursday evening, holding off Flagler College 88-80 as the two PBC teams met in non-conference action in Memorial Hall.

North Georgia picks up their first victory in over three weeks, improving to 4-5 on the season, while Flagler College drops to 3-4 overall.

The Saints jumped on top early as Michael Moynihan and Carl Taylor knocked down three-pointers on back-to-back possessions and Andrew Bennett hit a layup with 15:18 remaining in the half to give the home team a 12-6 advantage.

North Georgia led by as many as 16 points in the first half as Brody Langston drained a baseline jumper with 6:44 remaining in the opening period to create the 37-21 lead. Flagler would come right back however, going on a 10-0 run, capped by a layup from Kenny Moore to cut the North Georgia lead to just six at 37-31.

Flagler would pull to within three points late in the first half on a three-pointer by John Pietkiewicz before North Georgia took a five-point lead at 45-40 heading into intermission.

The second half saw North Georgia never trail, but Flagler held close the final 20 minutes, never letting the home team lead by more then eight points, a margin Chris Faulkner’s squad held at three different times and turned out to be the margin of victory.

Flagler forced one deadlock in the game, coming with 11:30 remaining in the game as D.J. Ferguson hit a layup to tie the game 62-62. The Saints would then score four straight with buckets from Kindall Butler and Bennett as North Georgia took the lead for good, using four free throws in the final 18 seconds from Michael Moynihan to seal the win.

Michael Moynihan paced five North Georgia players in double figures, scoring a team-high 19 points and adding 10 assists for a double-double, while Carl Taylor was stellar from long range, hitting five of seven three-pointer for 17 points. Bernard Rimmer and Bennett added a dozen points apiece, while Langston added 11 points on 5-9 shooting from the field.

Eddie Fowler led Flagler with a game-high 24 points on 10-16 shooting from the floor, while Pietkiewicz added 17 points, and July tallied 15 points on 7-10 shooting from the free throw line.

North Georgia will have two weeks off for Christmas break before returning to action on Wednesday, December 30, taking on Newberry College with tip-off set for 4:00 p.m. in Memorial Hall. The Saints will oppose the Scarlet and Red for the final non-conference game of the year.