YOUNG HARRIS, Ga. – Damien Leonard and Deric Rudolph combined for 36 points as Georgia Southwestern State University built up a 19-point lead and hung on for a 71-64 Peach Belt Conference men's basketball game Saturday (Jan. 10) afternoon at the YHC Basketball Arena.

The Hurricanes improved to 6-7 overall and to 1-5 in the league while Young Harris fell to 5-7 and 2-4. The Mountain Lions return to action Wednesday (Jan. 14) with a 7:30 p.m. PBC home contest against the University of Montevallo.

Georgia Southwestern shot 58.3 percent (14-of-24) from the floor, including 6-of-12 from three-point range, as they built a 35-22 lead at the half. Leonard scored 11 of his game-high 19 points during the first half.

"I thought they moved the ball better, especially in the first half," said YHC head coach Pete Herrmann. "We dug ourselves a big hold on the defensive end."

The Hurricanes scored eight of the first 10 points in the second half as they opened up a 19-point lead (43-24) on a layup by Josh Birchfield.

Young Harris cut the deficit down to single digits when C.J. Wilson nailed a three-pointer to pull the Mountain Lions within nine points (61-52) with 6:22 left.  That trey kick started an 8-0 run for Young Harris as they got within four points (61-57) on a Kevin Altidor jumper with 4:44 remaining, but the Hurricanes got a layup and two free throws from Birchfield to push the lead back to eight points (65-57).

"I thought we were better in the second half," said Herrmann. "We have to move the ball better."

Rudolph finished with 17 points while Birchfield scored 12 points and grabbed seven rebound. Darius Redding had seven of the 20 assists dished out by the Hurricanes.

Wilson led the Mountain Lions with 18 points and Isaiah Johnson added 14 more. Altidor recorded his second consecutive double double as he scored 13 points and pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds.