MIAMI SHORES, Fla. – C.J. Wilson and Herdie Lawrence combined for 37 points as Young Harris College defeated the University of Puerto Rico-Río Piedras 77-66 in a non-conference men's basketball game Friday (Nov. 28) evening on the first day of the Odio Thanksgiving Classic hosted by Barry University.
The Mountain Lions improved to 3-2 and will face the University of Sioux Falls at 5 p.m. Saturday (Nov. 29) on the final day of the Classic while UPR-Río Piedras, which falls to 2-6, will face Barry at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
Young Harris took a 7-0 lead on layups by Wilson and Kevin Altidor sandwiched around a three-pointer by Isaiah Johnson with 17:02 remaining as the Mountain Lions never trailed in the game. The Mountain Lions expanded their lead to nine points (18-9) on an Altidor layup with 10:20 left that was setup by one of four steals by Wilson.
The Gallitos bounced back to tie the game at 25 on a layup by Josue Erazo with 5:09 remaining in the half. However, the Mountain Lions regained control as they ended the half on a 14-3 run to take a 39-28 lead at the intermission. Wilson, who scored 15 of his team-high 20 points in the first half, had nine of the YHC points during the run on a pair of three-pointers and an old-fashioned three-point play.
The Mountain Lions expanded their lead to 16 points (49-33) on a Sam Mike putback with 15:02 to play in the game. UPR- Río Piedras cut the deficit down to eight points (52-44) on an Angel Torres layup three minutes later. However, the Mountain Lions rebuilt their advantage back up to 15 points (66-51) on a Johnson layup with 6:40 to play.
Young Harris shot 50.9 percent (29-of-57) from the floor, including a sizzling 57.1 percent (12-of-21) from three-point range while limiting the Gallitos to 41.1 percent (23-of-56). Lawrence finished with 17 points while Altidor added 14 more. Johnson contributed nine points while Ben Waterhouse added eight. Sam Mike led the Mountain Lions with eight rebounds and Altidor tallied eight as Young Harris held a 37-29 advantage on the boards.
Omar DeJesus led the Gallitos with 26 points.
