November 24, 2009

Box Score | Game Notes

DAHLONEGA, GA – The North Georgia College & State University men’s basketball team used a second half surge and four players in double figures to come from behind and defeat Lynn University 76-70 Tuesday evening in Memorial Hall in non-conference action.

North Georgia improves to 3-1 on the season, bouncing back from a road loss to stay perfect at home on the 2009-10 season, while Lynn University drops their second game of the year, falling to 0-2 overall.

The Saints scored the game’s first bucket on an Andrew Bennett layup at the 17:58 mark, but Lynn came right back with a 10-2 run, capped by a pair of free throws from Kendall Butler to give the Fighting Knights a 10-4 advantage.

Lynn University would lead by as many as 13 points in the first half at the 10:13 mark as Jovan Robinson knocked down a three-pointer to give the Knights a 25-12 lead, but North Georgia put a run together down the stretch and used a Michael Moynihan three-pointer at the buzzer to pull to within five points at 39-35 at intermission.

The Saints scored 15 points off turnovers in the first half while staying in the game in the paint, scoring 20 first-half points in the paint to just eight for the Knights.

North Georgia opened the second half with a surge, as Kindall Butler hit back-to-back jumpers to tie the game, the first deadlock of the contest. After Bernard Rimmer pulled the Saints even with Lynn once again at the 16:42 mark, Michael Moynihan gave North Georgia the lead for good, knocking down one of two free throws and hitting a running layup to give the Saints a 44-41 lead with 16 minutes left in the game.

Lynn University would take the lead one more time at the 12:13 mark, but North Georgia followed with an 11-0 run to take the lead for good, capped by a corner three-pointer by Pat Moynihan to give the Saints a 10-point lead with 8:47 remaining. North Georgia led by as many as 13 points down the stretch before the Knights came fighting back and pulled to within two points with 39 seconds remaining on a pair of free throws by Chris Hall, but Hall missed a pair of three pointers in the final seconds and Michael Moynihan and Pat Moynihan joined forces to knock down four straight free throws and give North Georgia a 76-70 victory.

North Georgia was led by Michael Moynihan who tallied 19 points and came up an assist shy of a double-double with nine dimes. He added 7-8 shooting from charity stripe and a perfect 2-2 from long range. Pat Moynihan had his best performance of the year, recording 14 points and two steals as the Moynihan brothers combined for 33 points and 11-12 shooting from the free throw line.

Bennett continued his consistent play, adding 13 points on a perfect 6-6 shooting performance from the floor, while Kindall Butler tallied 12 points and eight rebounds on 6-7 shooting from the floor.

Lynn University’s Hall tallied a game-high 24 points on 7-18 shooting from the floor, while Jovan Robinson added 12 points and Rodney Kennedy tallied 11 points and was a perfect 3-3 from long range.

North Georgia shot 56-percent from the field, 42-percent from long range, and 77-percent from the free throw line, while Lynn University was 40-percent from the field, 44-perent from behind the arc, and 81-percent from the charity stripe.

The Saints return to action over the weekend, traveling to Jefferson City, Tennessee, for the Carson-Newman Tournament. North Georgia will take on 14th-ranked Tusculum on Friday evening at 8:00 p.m. before opposing host Carson-Newman Saturday afternoon at 4:00 p.m.